Fullmetal Innocence
by Firebreathing Ghost
Summary: FMA DGM crossover. The Earl recruits the help of the homunculi. Can Allen, Alphonse and the others stop them before it's too late? Can Kanda learn to get along with Ed? See for yourself!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything from the Fullmetal Alchemist or D. Gray-Man worlds.

**Note:** This story starts around episode 37 of Fullmetal Alchemist, and chapter 26 of D. Gray-Man. I used the official spellings of the characters' names, which can be found on wikipedia.

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**Fullmetal Innocence**

"Looks pretty serious. Lavi, guard the door. Don't let anyone in."

"Gotcha!"

Allen Walker slowly opened his right eye. A tall, dark-haired man wearing glasses was standing above him. His name was Komui Li. He was the head officer of the Dark Religious Organization, for which Allen worked for as an exorcist.

"Allen! You're awake!" Komui greeted him. Allen slowly sat up. To his horror, he noticed that Komui was holding a machine with a very sharp drill.

"Komui? What are you doing here? Where are we?" Allen sat up.

"At the hospital. The finders we stationed outside this town reported that it returned to normal. Good job," Komui praised him.

"Where's Miranda?"

"Miss Miranda was here earlier. You missed her. I'm here to fix you. You won't be going back to Headquarters. I'm sending you on another mission," said Komui. "I'll give you the details when Lenalee and Kanda get here."

"Kanda!" Allen couldn't keep the dismay out of his voice. "Is Lenalee okay?"

"Lenalee is still unconscious, but she'll be fine. Gramps is taking care of her." Allen turned to look at who had spoken. It was a boy with red hair, dressed in the exorcists' uniform. He had an eye patch over his right eye. "I'm Lavi. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," Allen replied. Lavi gave him a friendly smile.

"Miss Miranda wanted to say sorry that she couldn't be here when you woke up," Komui explained that the town went back to normal when Miranda gained control of her clock, and that the townspeople had no idea they just went through October 9th 34 times. Komui told Allen that Miranda was moving, and that she wanted to thank him for everything he did.

"I'm going to go check on Lenalee," Komui told Allen. "Just sit still and don't do anything rash." Komui left the room, leaving Allen to ponder over the events he just experienced.

_Why is that girl helping the Earl?_ wondered Allen. She had called herself Road Kamelot, and insisted she was human. _Was she really human? Why would a human help the Earl? Who was she? _He suddenly remembered the people who showed up at the end. It was a man and a woman. The woman was tall and beautiful, with long hair as jet black as Lenalee's. The man was short and fat, and drooled a lot. They both had strange red tattoos, the woman on her chest, and the man on his tongue.

The pair appeared to have planned to attack he, Lenalee and Miranda, but something held them back. They had gotten no closer than a few feet, when something seemed to throw them back. The little girl they were originally sparring with scoffed at their uselessness. When the pair seemed too weak to even get up, she dragged both of them away, and they escaped together. Allen saw that they weren't akuma, but they didn't seem entirely human either. _Who are those people?_

"Your crushed eye is starting to regenerate," Allen was quickly snapped back into reality. An old, bald man with dark makeup around his eyes had joined he and Lavi. "You won't be able to see anything for a while, but it will heal in a few days. It seems to be cursed."

"Yes… I received this wound when I turned my father into an akuma," Allen sighed, remembering the morbid incident. "You probably already know this but, my name is Allen Walker."

"I have no name," the man shook hands with Allen. "Just call me Bookman."

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"It's you." An unfriendly boy with long, silky black hair pulled up into a ponytail approached Allen. The expression on his face was reminiscent of one who had just been force-fed turnip juice. This was the creature known as Kanda Yuu. During his previous mission, Allen had gotten partnered up with him. That hadn't cemented their friendship, but it wasn't Allen's fault. Kanda didn't get along with anybody.

"Kanda! You made it!" Komui greeted the exorcist.

"What's this important mission you've been going on about?" asked Kanda.

"Another Innocence has been sighted. I need the four of you to retrieve it," said Komui. Allen, Kanda, Komui, Lavi, Bookman and Komui's younger sister Lenalee were at a train station.

"Isn't that what the finders are for?" Kanda scowled.

"Well, that's the problem. There's been a report of a strange portal that keeps on appearing in Munich. Some finders were sent to check it out, and they said that they definitely felt the presence of an Innocence beyond it. But every time they try to enter, they just get thrown back out. We need you to go see it," explained Komui. He turned to the lady selling tickets. "Excuse me, when does the next train for Munich leave?"

"It's just leaving. That's the last train to Munich today," the lady behind the counter informed him. She pointed to the train.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" Komui gave the four young exorcists a shove towards its direction. The exorcists quickly boarded the train before it took off.

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"A portal, eh?" Lavi grinned. "This is going to be fun. Maybe it's the gate to a whole other universe, and only exorcists are allowed in!"

"Or maybe it's just a regular Innocence, and the finders were too incompetent to retrieve it," grumbled Kanda. "How are we supposed to find tiny Innocence in a city this size?"

"Well, a few people I talked to said that there's been some weird activities going on near the southern end of the town," said Lenalee. "Maybe we should check there."

Finding no better ideas, the group agreed to Lenalee's suggestion. When they arrived, they saw some men and women gathered around a small shack. It was emitting a strange blue aura. The men and women seemed to be trying to get in, but whenever one opened the door, the blue light just glowed brighter, and they were knocked backwards.

"Wait a second… those aren't men and women…" Allen peered at them.

"Are you saying…?" Lenalee gasped. As soon as those words left her mouth, the people started to shape-shift. They turned into large, ugly ball-things with cannons growing out of their bodies.

"Akuma," grunted Kanda.

"They're only Level 1. We can beat them," said Lavi.

Kanda stroked the blade of his sword, and unsheathed it. He dashed towards an akuma, and sliced through it. The creature fell to the ground. Its body deteriorated. The other akuma soon suffered the same fate, at the hands of the exorcists. They stood for a moment to admire their handiwork, then turned to the shack.

"This must be it," said Lenalee.

"What do we do? Do we go in?" asked Allen.

"That's what we were sent to do," replied Kanda. He swiftly pulled the door open, and carefully placed a foot inside. He was not rejected. Kanda stepped in all the way. The blue light enveloped him, and he disappeared.

"Should we follow him?" asked Lavi.

"Why not?" shrugged Allen. One by one, the remaining three exorcists all entered. For a moment, the light blazed brighter than it ever had. Then, it faded.


	2. Four exorcists and The Flame Alchemist

"Look at him. He looks so depressed," Kain Fuery hissed to Heymans Breda and Vato Falman.

They were talking about Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc. He had not been quite himself for the past few days. A while ago, Havoc had discovered that his girlfriend had been cheating on him… with none other than Colonel Roy Mustang. He had fallen into such a state of depression that Mustang had ordered Fuery, Breda and Falman to find him a girlfriend. Major Alex Louis Armstrong had volunteered his sister for the job. Havoc had gone to meet Armstrong's sister, who turned out to be quite beautiful. Just when he was ready to fall in love again, Havoc was turned down by Armstrong's little sister… because she preferred the muscular type, like her older brother.

"We've got other things to worry about," replied Breda. "Where's the Colonel?"

"I'm here! Are you all ready to go?" Mustang joined the group. He had a look of disgust on his face. "I can't believe you're making me do this! Honestly! Are you grown men or not?"

"We _are_ grown men… grown men who are afraid of the ghost that lives in Warehouse 13!" Breda, Fuery and Falman shuddered. Havoc looked quite out of it… a very vacant expression occupied his face, while his trademark cigarette drooped out of his mouth.

"My subordinates are idiots," growled Mustang.

"See you tomorrow!" First Lieutinant Riza Hawkeye waved at them, and the men waved back before they exited the building. They walked into the cool night. Mustang was still in a bad mood, but his subordinates (except for Havoc) were all quite cheerful.

"It feels so much safer with the Colonel protecting us," Fuery sighed in relief. His coworkers nodded in agreement.

"We're at the warehouses now. I will prove to you that there's no such thing as Warehouse 13!" proclaimed Mustang.

"There is! We saw it with our own eyes!" Fuery and Falman pointed at their eyes. "But this time, when the monsters come, you can just blow them to bits with your flame alchemy, right, Colonel?"

"If they don't come, I'll fry _you,_" Mustang threatened. "Enough standing around. I have a date tonight, so hurry up and go home."

"This is so creepy!" Breda whispered as they walked down the rows on warehouses.

"One, two, three," Fuery counted the warehouses as they passed by each one.

"I'm telling you! It's not going to be there! Everyone knows there are only twelve warehouses!" Roy sounded pissed.

"Ten, eleven, twelve…" the group was at the end of the line.

"Nonexistent!" Roy pointed at the space warehouse 13 was supposed to be. "Thanks for wasting my time!"

"Then what do you call that?" sniveled Fuery. He pointed at a small wooden shack standing beside warehouse 12.

"That's a tiny little shed. That's probably where the gardener keeps his tools!" Roy sighed in disgust. "Now go home!"

A blast of wind suddenly blew at their torch. It cast a large, grotesque shadow on the wall, making Fuery, Breda and Falman jump up and shriek in fear.

"Cut it out! I'm leaving you! You can find your own way home!" Roy snapped. He stood with his hands of his hips, glaring at his subordinates.

"C-colonel…" Falman pointed at the shack. Roy turned around. The door of the shack was slowly starting to open. A boy with long black hair and black robes stepped out. He held a samurai sword in his hand.

"_EEEEEAAAAAHHHH! That must be the swordsman ghost of warehouse 13! It's come to kill us!"_ Fuery, Falman and Breda shrieked, jumped into each other's arms and bounded away.

"It's a kid with a sword," Roy rolled his eyes. The boy stuck out his blade and held it to Roy's throat. "Okay, I stand corrected. A kid with a sword and some issues."

"_The ghost is going to kill the Colonel!_" screamed Roy's subordinates.

"Is it safe to come out, Yuu-chan?" someone called from inside the shed. A red-haired boy carrying a hammer exited from the shack.

"_The swordsman ghost's friend has come to bludgeon us!_" The three men were quite a sight. Tears were streaming down their cheeks as they hugged and screeched like schoolgirls

"Dammit Lavi! I told you not to call me that!" The ghost named Yuu-chan pointed his sword at Lavi.

"Look! They are turning on each other! We're saved!" Roy's subordinates yelped in glee.

"Shut up! Are you men or little schoolgirls!" Roy barked.

"Both of you! Stop fighting!" the third member of the 'ghosts of Warehouse 13' stepped out of the shack. The cigarette dropped out of Jean Havoc's mouth when he saw her face. She was a girl with long, silky black hair tied into pigtails. She was wearing a uniform similar to her companions', but more feminine. A trickle of blood dribbled out of Jean's left nostril.

"I'm sorry about my idiot teammates," the girl apologized to Roy. She pointed to the white cross that decorated her black uniform. "We're with the Dark Religious Organization. I'm Lenalee Li."

Roy reached for her hand to shake it. Jean decided then and there that he had to have Lenalee. He would not let Roy Mustang steal another girlfriend! He had to make his move before his womanizing superior did! It was now or never! Jean dashed between Lenalee and Roy. Crouching down on one knee, he took her hand into his. He looked deep into her dark eyes.

"Lenalee Li," said Jean in as charming of a voice as he could muster. "Will you marry me?"

Everyone gasped in shock. Somewhere in Central Europe, chills ran down Komui Li's spine, and the hairs on the back of his neck pricked up.

"Um… that's very flattering," Lenalee sweatdropped. "But I don't even know your name."

"Jean! Jean Havoc!" Havoc produced a red rose out of nowhere and tucked it into her hair. "I am your knight in shining armor!"

"Or a Second Lieutinant in dirty military wear," Roy rolled his eyes. He pushed Havoc aside. "I am Colonel Roy Mustang. You can call me the Flame Alchemist!"

"I'm Allen Walker," a boy with white hair and a pentagram seemingly tattooed under his right eye exited the shack. "Lenalee already introduced herself. The exorcist with the hammer is Lavi, and the one with the sword is Kanda."

"You don't look like you're from around these parts," Roy told Lenalee and Kanda.

"Like Lenalee said, we're with the Dark Religious Organization. We're here on a mission," explained Lavi.

"Dark Religious what?" Roy frowned. "Never heard of it."

Allen, Lavi, Lenalee and even Kanda all gaped at him in shock.

"The Dark Religious Organization? Exorcists? We're fighting against the akuma? Trying to defeat the Earl?" Allen tried to explain.

Roy wrinkled his forehead in deep thought. "Doesn't ring a bell. You're going to have to come with me to Headquarters."

"Wait… what country are we in?" asked Lenalee.

"Amestris. You're in Central," replied Roy.

"Ame-stris…" Lenalee sounded out. "I've never heard of it before. Are we still in Europe?"

"What's Europe?" Roy frowned. "Come on. Let's go to Headquarters. We can talk some more there." Roy motioned for them to follow him, and stepped forward. He felt something large under his boot, and stopped to pick it up. It was a sparkly, translucent ornament in the shape of a cross. It gave a delicate glow that allowed the exorcists to identify it immediately.

"An Innocence!" gasped Lavi.

"Is this yours?" asked Roy.

"Well, not really, you see, an Innocence is-" Allen started to explain.

"Yes. I'll take it," Kanda cut him off. He extended his hand, and Roy dropped it into his palm. The footsteps of someone running sounded down the alley. A blonde woman approached them, carrying a file in her arms.

"Colonel! Colonel! You forgot the work you said you'd finish at home!" the woman called to Roy.

"Yes…_ forgot_… thank you, Riza," Roy sighed, taking the file from her.

"Who's this?" Riza stared at the exorcists.

"They say they're not from Amestris. I was just taking them back to HQ to question them," explained Roy. "This is my right-hand woman, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye."

"Pleased to meet you," Allen and Riza shook hands and he introduced his friends.

"You look a little bit like a kid I know," Riza peered at him. When she went to shake hands with Kanda, the Innocence in his hand started to glow brighter. It freed itself from Kanda's fingers, and hovered excitedly around Riza's head.

"What's going on?" asked Roy.

"What's happening to the Innocence?" questioned Allen.

Riza instinctively pulled out her gun and pointed it at the glowing cross. It twirled around her head a few more times, then shot into her gun. The gun blazed brilliantly white, then both the glow from it and the Innocence faded. When Riza examined her precious firearm, there was a white cross embedded onto the barrel of her gun.

"What just happened?" demanded Roy.

"I think we've found both the Innocence…" Lavi slowly deducted . "_And_ its owner."


	3. Chapter 3: Enter Elrics

**Note: **Allen's pentagram is _above_ his eye, so I made a mistake in the last chapter. Sorry.

As you can see, Lenalee is not mad at Allen anymore.

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"You're part of an organization who's trying to 'rid the world of evil?'" Roy asked Allen and crew skeptically.

"Yes. We were sent here to look for Innocence," Allen motioned towards Riza. "It seems that Miss Hawkeye is compatible with the Innocence we found. That means she can be trained to become an exorcist."

"So you want to take First Lieutenant Hawkeye away?" Roy raised an eyebrow. The group was gathered in Roy's office, after he'd safely seen his subordinates home. Riza was also there, admiring the new decoration on her gun.

"Look, Mr. Mustang. We're trying to save the world. And, with the man we're up against, we need all the help we can get," Kanda told Roy.

"I'm sorry, but your story doesn't seem to legitimate," Roy told them. "Who is this 'Earl of the Millennium'? What exactly are 'akuma'? And why do you want Riza?"

Lenalee, Lavi, Kanda and Allen looked at each other, starting to run out of arguments. Suddenly, something flew into the room through the open window. The 'something' landed on Allen's head. It was a small, golden golem with stumpy little legs and wings. Black Hayate barked at it.

"Timcanpi!" Allen cried happily. "I forgot that you came with us! Did we leave you back at the shed?"

"The journey probably made it pass out, and it might've just regained consciousness," noted Lavi.

"Well, we can contact my brother," said Lenalee. Within seconds, a screen shot out of Timcanpi's mouth. There was static for a few moments, but the face of Komui Li soon showed up. His desk was piled high with paper, and, for once, he seemed to be making a half-hearted effort to do some work. Roy, Riza and Black Hayate watched in fascination.

"Hey you guys!" Komui waved at them. "Did you find it?"

"Yeah, but we have a bit of a problem," explained Lavi. "See, we also found a potential exorcist."

"You found the person compatible with the Innocence?" Komui put his pen down, all work forgotten. "Well, that's fantastic! What's the problem?"

"We're in a country called Amestris. Apparently, they've never heard of the Dark Religious Organization," said Kanda. "And they're a little _reluctant_ to let us bring the compatible back. The Innocence has already fused itself with her."

"Am-e-stris?" Komui took a sip of his coffee. He pulled a large record book in front of him. "Never heard of it. How do you spell it?" The exorcists looked at Riza and Roy.

"A-M-E-S-T-R-I-S," said Roy. "I'm Colonel Roy Mustang. This is my subordinate, First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye."

"I'm Komui Li, the head of the Science Department at the Dark Religious Organization. I'm also Lenalee's big brother. Nice to meet you," said Komui, flipping through the record book. "By the way, Allen and Lenalee, Miranda mentioned that you encountered three interesting humans when you were fighting akuma in Germany?"

"Yeah. One of them was a girl who looked about my age. She told me she was definitely human, but some _super-_human. Two other people showed up, too: a man and a woman. The girl, Road, she called them…" Allen furrowed his brow. "Um… hor…ho… Lenalee, what did she call them?"

"Homunculi," replied Lenalee. Roy and Riza gasped.

"I've heard that word before. I think it was the word for created human in alchemy," said Komui. "I'll have to read up on it, though. Alchemy's been extinct for so long, I don't think it's even in the dictionary anymore!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Roy. "Alchemy is still going as strong as ever! The military here uses it. I'm an alchemist myself! Don't they use it anymore in the East?"

"You mean in like China and Japan? No," answered Komui.

"No, I mean Xing. That _is_ where you are, right?" said Roy.

"No. I'm in… well, the Headquarters. I'm not at liberty to reveal where it is." Komui frowned. "That's weird. There's no mention of an Amestris in here. The Organization keeps close tabs on all the countries of the world."

"I've never heard of any countries named China, Japan or Germany either," replied Roy.

"Wow. Maybe we _did_ get into another dimension!" Lavi was excited.

"Don't be an idiot!" Kanda scowled.

"It seems that way," said Komui. "Allen, get Timcanpi to send my golem a video of your battle, okay? I'll look more into your situation, and get back to you in the morning. Right now, I have a mountain of work that I'm supposed to be pretending to do!"

"Gotcha. Timcanpi?" Allen looked at the little golden golem. It seemed to nod in understanding. Allen waited for a few seconds. "Did you get it?"

"Yes. I'll see you in the morning. Bye, everyone! Take care! Don't get into trouble, Lenalee!" The exorcists waved at Komui, and Timcanpi disengaged the screen.

"These _homunculi_ you're talking about… what were they like?" asked Roy.

"Well, it was a woman and a man. The woman was rather pretty, I thought. She was pale, with long black hair and a red tattoo on her chest," Lenalee told him. "She had these wicked nails that could extend and slash things. The man was short and fat, and had sort of a crazed look on his face. He kept on drooling, and ate some chairs in the room."

"Timcanpi can show you the video if you like," Allen offered.

"No. It's okay." Roy's face was grim. "Thank you for your time. Lieutenant Hawkeye, would you kindly find them a hotel to stay? There's a little inn on the corner of Main and Silver. Get them two rooms there and charge the expenses to my account. Also, here is some money for breakfast," Roy took out his wallet, pulled out a few bills and handed them to Kanda. "Come back here tomorrow at twelve. Excuse me. I have an important call to make."

"Yes, sir," Hawkeye saluted him. Roy picked up the phone. "Who are you calling, sir?"

"The Elrics."

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"Stupid Mustang! Calling out of nowhere and telling me to come to Central for a stupid _assessment!_" A short golden-haired boy grumbled as he walked down the street with his friends behind him. "As if he doesn't know we've got better things to do!"

"Calm down, brother," a large suit of armor told him. "He might have something important to tell us, but didn't want to be eavesdropped."

"Central's not so bad, Ed," a blonde girl assured him. "Besides, aren't you looking forward to seeing everybody again?"

"Seeing Mustang?" Ed scoffed. "Are you kidding? He didn't even have enough dedication to show up and meet us at the train station!"

"Thanks for coming to meet us, Winry," the armor told the girl. "Roy did sound pretty urgent when he told us to catch the next train to Central. We _barely _made it on. It was moving when we boarded!"

"No problem, Al," Winry told him. "So, Ed, how's your arm and leg feeling? You didn't damage them again, did you?"

"Typical. Always worried about the machine more than me," Ed laughed. "They're fine, Winry. But man, am I starving! I think I'll grab a bite before I go see Mustang."

As he said this, they were nearing the corner of Main and Silver streets. Kanda Yuu was standing in the shadow of a small inn, waiting for his comrades. He heard their voices, and turned to see who approached. Kanda saw a familiar face. Never mind that the familiar face didn't have the familiar white hair or pentacle over his eye. Never mind that the familiar face was wearing a red jacket instead of the flappy exorcist's robes. Kanda saw the person he was waiting for. He unsheathed his sword, and just as Ed and his friends passed, he stuck it out like a bar to block them. Ed nearly walked into the blade before quickly stopping.

"Excuse me," said Ed. "Can we pass?"

"Found you, Beansprout," Kanda pointed the tip of the blade at Ed's throat. He squinted at him. "What did you do to your hair?"

"_Don't call me short!_" Ed screeched. Al held him back as he screamed for Kanda's murder.

"Um, do we know you?" Al asked him.

"Where did you go? We agreed to meet back here at twelve. Lenalee and Lavi are looking for you right now," Kanda ignored Alphonse, and kept his blade at Ed's throat.

"Kanda! _What are you doing!" _A horrified voice called from Kanda's other side. Lenalee and Allen raced to the inn. "Unsheathe that sword _now!_"

"Lenalee? Oh, you found him," Kanda acknowledged Allen.

"I am _extremely_ sorry for Kanda's _terrible_ rudeness!" Lenalee turned to Ed, Al and Winry. "I hope none of you are hurt!"

"No, we're alright. Apology accepted," Winry laughed at the indignant expression on Ed's face.

"That's good. Again, _terribly_ sorry. We have to go now!" Lenalee waved at the group. Yanking on Kanda's ear, she pulled him away. Allen apologized as well, and followed them.

"What were you doing?" Lenalee demanded.

"I thought he was Beansprout," explained Kanda, freeing himself from Lenalee's grasp.

"_How! _I'll admit they look a bit alike, but they don't even have the same hair colour!" Lenalee exclaimed.

"Well, maybe he dyed it or something," shrugged Kanda. "If I had hair like that, I would."

"Show-off," Allen muttered, glancing at Kanda's long, sleek locks.

"Hi guys! You found him?" Lavi joined their stroll down the street.

That morning, the group had eaten breakfast together at a small diner. Kanda, Lenalee and Lavi had finished first, and decided to explore the city (well, Kanda wanted a nap). Allen was still only halfway done his mountain of eggs and bacon. They had all agreed to meet at the inn at twelve and go to Headquarters together. But when Lavi, Kanda and Lenalee regrouped at the entrance at noon, Allen was nowhere to be seen. They had waited ten minutes before Lenalee and Lavi decided to go looking for him. Kanda decided to stay at the inn, in case Allen turned up.

"Where was he, anyway?" asked Kanda.

"Back at the restaurant," said Lenalee.

"What? You were still eating?" Lavi questioned in surprise. Allen blushed.

"Actually, no. When you guys left, Kanda threw down some money to pay for the meals. It turns out the money only covered his own meal…" Allen blushed deeper. "I had to stay behind and do dishes to pay for the other food, because the owner thought the rest of you had dined and dashed."

"Kanda! How much did you pay?" asked Lenalee.

Kanda revealed an amount, which was only one-fifth of the money Roy had given them. "I didn't expect the food to be so expensive," said Kanda.

"Speaking of food, I'm starving!" exclaimed Lavi. "Do you think Mustang-kun will pay for lunch?"

"Maybe. Let's hurry up and go," said Lenalee.

"Yeah. Might as well get the meeting with as soon as possible," agreed Kanda. The four put on some speed and headed towards HQ.

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"Well, Ed? Are you full?" Winry watched with disgust as Edward shoved spoonful after spoonful of stew into his mouth at the very same restaurant Allen had washed dishes for.

"Yeah," Ed pulled out some money to pay for it. "I'd better get to Mustang's office. I want to get this assessment over with as soon as possible."

After Ed paid for his food, the trio walked out of the restaurant. They hadn't taken two steps when Ed tripped over something on the sidewalk. As he cursed angrily, Alphonse bent down to retrieve what had made Ed fall. It was a large, many-faceted crystal ornament as big as his fist… well, maybe not _his_, but it was the same size as a human fist. It was shaped like a heart, and clear. It seemed to have an ethereal aura, and when he held it up to the light, it shined in many colours.

"Wow. It's beautiful," gasped Winry.

"Someone must've dropped it," said Al. "It looks expensive. I'll put an ad in the paper for it, and see if anyone comes to claim it."

"You can do that later. Right now, we've got to get to HQ," decided Ed. He plucked the jewel from Al, and tucked it into his pocket. The three of them raced towards Headquarters.

"Edward. You haven't grown at all," Roy commented wryly when they entered his office. "And you're late." Riza and Black Hayate were also there.

"Whatever. What's this big important assessment? Hurry up and finish it. You know I've got better things to do," said Ed.

"No assessment. I didn't want anyone to eavesdrop. There are some people I want you to meet," Roy told him. He looked at the clock. "Actually, they're late, too."

"We're so sorry!" suddenly, four people clad in black burst into the room. "We got a little bit lost!"

"You again!" Ed pointed rudely at Kanda.

"Well, if it isn't Pipsqueak. Come to think of it, Beansprout _is_ a little taller than you," Kanda noted, just as impolite as Ed did.

"Oh, have you met already?" asked Roy.

"Yeah! Straight-fringe tried to murder me!" Ed yelled, referring to Kanda's silky bangs. Kanda reached for his sword, but Allen reached out and caught his arm before he could. He used his left hand, and his red, disfigured limb showed very clearly. Everybody who didn't already know about it gasped.

"Allen, why don't you show us the video of your fight?" suggested Roy. "Please close the door, Lavi."

Lavi obeyed, and everyone gathered to the middle of the room. Timcanpi opened its mouth, and projected Allen's battle with the akuma. Lenalee looked away, but everyone else watched in amazement. All of the sudden, two figures that Ed and Al recognized entered.

"The homunculi!" Ed gasped, pointing at the woman in the green dress, and the fat man. He turned to Allen. "Where is this place? What's happening?" They finished watching the rest of the fight. Then, the exorcists explained about akuma, the Earl, and the Dark Religious Organization. Roy, Ed and Al told them about alchemy, the Philosopher's Stone, and the homunculi.

"You know, I just realized something!" exclaimed Lavi. "Those hormo- herman- the man and woman became really weak when they tried to get close to Allen, Lenalee, and the Innocence in the clock!"

"Maybe they're weak against Innocence!" Lenalee caught on.

"That _would_ make sense…" Ed said slowly. "Since they're living sins, and Innocence is a _holy_ tool."

"So you believe us now?" asked Kanda.

"Yes," nodded Roy. "This evil must be stopped."

"I'm glad I'm able to help, and I'll do anything I can," nodded Riza.

"This is all very nice, but how are we getting back?" said Kanda. "Another portal hasn't exactly opened to transport us back."

"Oh, that reminds me. We found something weird when we were coming here," recalled Ed. "I don't know if this has to do with anything, but, you guys might be interested."

He pulled out the crystal he'd tripped over earlier. Everyone gasped when he held it up. It was no longer clear, but now glimmered pink. Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in…" said Roy, his eyes fixed on the heart.

"Mustang! I've gotten some reports that you have guests from out of Amestris?" It was a man with black hair and a patch over his left eye.

"Fuhrer King Bradley!" Roy gasped. Taking their eyes off the heart, he, Riza, Ed and Al quickly saluted him.

"So, who are these guests of yours?" the Fuhrer stepped into the room. He was about a meter away from the exorcists, when a change came over his face. They twisted in agony, and he crashed down onto his knees. The exorcists felt their Innocence glowing. The cross on Riza's gun glowed as well, and the heart-shaped crystal changed into a brilliant crimson. Something red gleamed from behind the Fuhrer's eye patch, and the group gathered in the room could make out the faint shape of an Ouroborus.

"Never mind… I'll see you later…" the Fuhrer gasped, crawling out of the room. As soon as he'd gotten a safe distance away from them, he slammed the door shut, and they could hear his footsteps thudding down the hall.

"That's our leader," explained Roy, looking perplexed. "I wonder what's wrong with him today?"

Allen's cursed eye matched the Fuhrer's aura to that of the man and woman from before. "The Fuhrer… I'm not positive, but I think he's-"

Suddenly, an agile woman with short, blonde hair burst into the room from the window. She slithered over to the group. She was panting, as if she'd run the whole way there from wherever she came.

"Hi, Marta," Al greeted her. "What's wrong?"

"You're not going to believe this!" the woman proclaimed. "The Fuhrer is a homunculus!"


	4. Chapter 4: Homunculi and Akuma

"What!" gasped Roy, Riza, Al and Ed.

"Is this true?" Riza looked at Allen.

"Yeah. That's what I was going to say," replied Allen. "The man with the eye patch- the Fuhrer- he was like the man and woman from before. He looked human, but there was something different about him. It's sort of hard to explain. The homunculi are definitely not akuma. They're practically human. Except there's something _empty_ about the homunculi. It's like a part of them is _missing_. They're like…"

"Humans that aren't human," Ed finished for him.

"Exactly," confirmed Allen.

"Homunculi are made from the dead, right? So they're a bit like akuma," observed Lenalee.

"One thing the two definitely have in common is that they're both evil. And they seem to be working for this _Earl_ person," said Roy. "Wait a minute! If the Fuhrer is a homunculus, this country is doomed! Are you two sure?"

"I could be wrong. That emptiness the homunculi have is easy to miss," replied Allen. "But he responded so strongly to our Innocence."

"I'm sure. He has an Ouroborus mark like Greed-sama's," Marta's voice was firm. "It's under his eye patch. On his eyeball, to be more precise. I'd know that mark anywhere."

"Lab 5! The chimaeras! Human experiments! Shou Tucker! Maes Hughes!" Roy began pacing around the room. "Everything's starting to make sense!"

"Then the country really _is_ in trouble!" Winry gasped. "The Fuhrer is the leader, and he's evil! What are we going to do?"

A screen suddenly burst out of Timcanpi's mouth. Komui Li greeted the occupants of the room cheerfully.

"Did you find anything out?" asked Lavi. Komui sweatdropped sheepishly.

"Well, all the reports we have on homunculi are about alchemy, failed attempts to create humans, stuff like that. But don't worry, I've been reviewing your video all night," Komui assured them.

"The only way you could've done that is if you were dreaming about it," a red-haired man with an Australian accent popped into the screen beside Komui. "Mr. Li spent the night sleeping at his desk. _I_ watched, re-watched and wrote a report about your battle. But I didn't find out anything about the homunculi either."

Marta, who hadn't paid that much attention to the exorcists before then, now regarded them with extreme curiosity.

"That's Squad Leader Reever Wenham," explained Lenalee. Everyone else introduced themselves. Then, Ed, Al and Roy told Komui about the homunculi while Winry proceeded to enlighten Marta on what was happening.

"One more thing," Ed added after all the explaining was done. He held up the heart-shaped jewel. "Al, Winry and I found this. It started to glow when the Fuhrer came in. Is it an Innocence, too?"

"Maybe. Do you mind giving it to one of the exorcists? They can hold on to it while you're there," said Komui.

Kanda took the heart from Ed and tucked it safely into his robes.

"We think that there has to be more than one or two Innocences there to create a portal. Do you think you can stay there for a while and look for them?" asked Komui.

"Sure," agreed Allen, Lenalee and Lavi.

"It's not like we have a way to get back yet," Kanda grudgingly agreed to the arrangements.

"Okay. Miss Hawkeye, I'm sorry you have to be thrust so abruptly into this battle, but the exorcists will help out in any way they can. You can also ask me some questions when I call," said Komui. "That's all for now. Stay in touch!"

"Bye," everyone chorused, and Timcanpi swallowed the screen.

"No use hanging around in here," Riza pointed out. "I might as well start training."

"I'll see you later," Marta started climbing out the window. "I've got to keep a low profile." Everyone else exited using the door.

"It sounds like you'll be here for a while. We'll have to see about your living arrangements," said Roy.

"Well, maybe one of them can stay at Mrs. Hughes'?" offered Winry. "I could ask her about it."

"We can stay at the hotel," Allen assured them.

"We don't want to be any trouble," agreed Lenalee. The group walked out of the Military building.

"What's this, Roy? Do you have guests?" an extremely muscular bald man with a large blonde moustache approached them outside. Little pink sparklies twinkled around him.

"Hello, Major Armstrong. Meet Ed and Al's cousin Allen. He has just returned from studying in Xing. He brought some of his friends," fibbed Roy.

"You crossed the Great Desert?" Armstrong asked in amazement.

"Yeah," answered Ed. "We're trying to find them a place to stay."

"We'll stay at the hotel! It's fine, really!" said Lenalee.

"Nonsense! Any Elric is welcome in my home!" Armstrong proclaimed. "I will not refuse shelter to those who have made such a long, hard and tiresome journey! You will stay at the Armstrong's estate!"

"No! We really don't want to be any trouble!" argued Allen.

"No trouble at all! Look at you, boy! So young, but with hair so white! You must have been through as much hardship as your cousins!" Armstrong sniffed sentimentally.

"Yeah, they have," confirmed Alphonse.

"I insist you stay at my home! Please do not refuse!" thundered Armstrong.

"Okay," shrugged Lavi. Allen and Lenalee also agreed.

"Problem solved," agreed Mustang.

"I am on my lunch break. I can show you my home now. Do you need to retrieve you possessions?" asked Armstrong. Allen explained that they didn't really bring anything to Amestris with them. "Crossing the Great Desert with just the clothing on your back! Brave and fearless, indeed! Come, then! I will give you a tour of the great Armstrong estate!"

"Ugh. No way," Kanda looked at Armstrong with disgust. "I'll take the hotel. Bye." Kanda started down the street towards the inn.

"Okay! Bye, Yu-chan!" Lavi waved. Kanda turned around and glared coldly at Lavi before resuming his walk.

"Is that Kanda's last name?" asked Allen.

"No, Yu is Kanda's _first_ name. Yu Kanda. But since he's Japanese, it becomes Kanda Yu," explained Lavi. "I guess you wouldn't know, since everyone calls him by his last name. He doesn't like being called Yu."

"Come! Do not loiter!" Armstrong urged the exorcists. "I must introduce such brave young people to the rest of my family!"

"Well, let's get back to work, Lieutenant Hawkeye," Roy said to Riza.

"Anything you need our help with, Mustang-kun?" inquired Lavi.

"No. You go ahead and rest. I'll come get you tomorrow," Roy told them.

"Okay. Bye. We'll start your training tomorrow, Riza," the exorcists waved at Roy, Riza, the Elrics and Winry before Armstrong ushered them towards his car.

-------------

"My great-uncle Arthur P. Armstrong joined the military at the age of 22 as the Stone Fist Alchemist," Phillip G. Armstrong told the exorcist proudly next morning at breakfast. He was recounting what seemed like the entire history of the Armstrong family.

"Father's stories are so meaningful," his son, Alex L. Armstrong sobbed.

Lavi and Lenalee were now only pretending to listen while Allen stuffed toast into his mouth.

"I also served the military for forty-five years," continued Mr. Armstrong. "The Armstrong family has been a loyal supporter of the military for generations and generations."

"Oh, don't bore them with your old stories, dear," said Mrs. Armstrong. The doorbell rang.

"That must be Mustang-kun! I'll get it!" Lavi raced to the door, glad to get out of listening to the history of the Armstrongs.

"Are you ready?" Kanda was standing at the door. A black car was parked at the curb, with Roy at the wheel.

"Al-_len_! Le-_na_-lee! We're going!" Lavi yelled. The other two said their good-byes to the Armstrongs, and exited the house. Lavi, Allen and Lenalee all squeezed into the back seat while Kanda got in beside Roy.

"I assigned First Lieutenant Jean Havoc to inspect any mysterious goings-on in Amestris," Roy told them as he drove. "Nothing yet."

"What are we going to do about the Fuhrer?" asked Lenalee.

"He can't be the only homunculus," replied Roy.

"We should find them all and kill them!" decided Lavi.

"I think they've teamed up with the Earl," stated Allen. "The man and woman from before certainly acted like it."

"We should look for the owner of the new Innocence," added Lavi. "Riza-chan's Innocence was found here. Maybe the heart-shaped one is compatible with someone in Amestris, too."

The rest of the car ride was spent discussing possible whereabouts of the other Innocences. They soon arrived at HQ. The five walked into the building and up towards Roy's office, the exorcists following the Colonel. They passed by a pretty, brown-haired woman dressed in a violet suit as they were going up the stairs.

"Good morning, Ms. Douglas," Roy greeted the Fuhrer's secretary.

As Kanda, who was the first after Roy passed Juliet Douglas, her foot slipped. She stumbled. Fortunately, Ms. Douglas was able to catch the handrail before she fell down. She stood there, gripping on for dear life, as if all the strength were gone from her legs.

"Are you okay? Do you need help?" Lenalee reached out a hand to aid her.

"No, I'm fine! Good morning!" Ms. Douglas slapped Lenalee's hand away and, summoning up all her strength, stomped down the stairs and out of sight. Everyone looked curiously at her.

"That's the Fuhrer's secretary," explained Roy. She had an aura that Allen easily identified.

"Another one!" he gasped.

"Good morning, Colonel. I'm glad to see you've finally arrived," Riza appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Is everything alright?" asked Roy.

"Brigadier General Hughes' assistant has decided to pay us a visit," said Riza. The six of them walked to Roy's office. Ed, Al and Winry were already there. Winry was chatting excitedly to a mousy brunette with glasses.

"Good morning, Sheska," Roy greeted her.

"Colonel Mustang! And that must be Edward's cousin!" Sheska bowed at them.

"Does this visit have any particular purpose, or are you just here to chat?" asked Roy.

"Well, Winry and I were talking this morning about Brigadier General Hughes' death, when we were rudely interrupted-" started Sheska.

"The Fuhrer's secretary is evil!" interrupted Winry. "We ran here as fast as we could to avoid getting killed!"

Roy sighed. "What kind of ridiculous-"

"The Fuhrer's secretary is the woman we passed by at the stairs, right?" asked Allen.

"Well, yes."

"She's a homunculus," Allen told him.

"What? Really?" gasped Ed and Al.

"Four homunculi in one week!" whistled Lavi.

"So there _are_ more than one," noted Lenalee. "How many more are there?"

"There's Greed," Ed told them quietly. "That's the homunculus I killed."

"Don't forget Wrath," added Al, reminding them of the little boy from Yock Island."

"And the shape-shifter. I think his name's Envy," concluded Ed.

"Wait a minute… Greed, Wrath and Envy…" Allen tried to recall where he'd heard that before.

"Lust, Gluttony, Pride and Sloth," said Kanda.

"The Seven Deadly Sins!" exclaimed Lenalee.

"Then there are seven. That's not so bad," shrugged Lavi.

"Yeah right. You ever tried killing one?" scoffed Ed.

"The fat man from before must be Gluttony," said Allen.

"And the girl, she was so pretty. She might be Lust," added Lenalee.

"The Fuhrer is most likely Pride," continued Kanda.

"And that makes the secretary Sloth," finished Lavi.

"Now we know their names. The next thing we should do is destroy them," decided Roy.

"You know, the Fuhrer's secretary looks a bit like mom," commented Al. Ed choked on the glass of water he was drinking. Al gasped, suddenly realizing what he'd just said. They knew how a homunculus was made… and of course, they remembered what they tried to four years ago. The exorcists, who hadn't been told their story, were now talking about the homunculi.

"The homunculi can cross over to our world," said Allen. "But the akuma can't."

"Maybe the Noahs can," suggested Lavi.

"And that means the Earl can, too," said Lenalee.

"He can simply make akuma here," noted Riza.

"Yes. There are plenty here who weep for the dead…" Roy agreed.

Ed, Al, Winry and Sheska said nothing, but the sadness in their hearts was reflected in their downcast eyes.

-------------

A woman with short blonde-brown hair kneeled in front of a tombstone. She cradled a bouquet of roses in one arm, while the other was reached up to her face to wipe away her tears. She tried hard to stop them. She remembered all the good times she and her husband had together. But the tears only flowed harder at the realization that those days were gone forever. She'd never see him again. He was gone forever, no matter how hard she wished he wasn't.

"I'd give anything," she sobbed. "I'd give anything to bring you back… _anything_… I'd give my _life_." She truly meant those words.

"You would?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

She looked up. A fat man in a large coat was standing quite disrespectfully on top of the stone. He wore a giant top hat decorated with roses and satin ribbons. His ears were large and pointy, and a pair of glasses had slipped halfway down his nose, revealing a pair of beady eyes behind them. His mouth took up most of his face, it and was twisted into a sinister grin.

"Who are you?" she gasped.

"Do you really love him that much?" questioned the man, hopping off the tombstone.

"Of course!"

"Do you want him back?"

"Certainly!"

"His current body hasn't decomposed yet. But I can offer something better. His soul, into a custom body, designed by you. All of his old personality would be there, along with his memories. He'll be as good as new. I could do that for you," the man laid his hands on her shoulders. "That is, if you love him enough to do this for him. It's your decision."

She was silent. It seemed as if he had heard her silent pleading, and come to answer her. But was it as good as it sounded? Was it too good to be true? Surely, he couldn't be offering it for free? Still, she missed him so much. And their little daughter would grow up so much happier with a whole, complete family… like they were before. If not for herself, she had to do this for her daughter, right?

"Maes Hughes. Shall I bring him back for you?" the man inquired.

"…sure."


	5. Chapter 5: Unwilling Enemy

"You really don't have to come with me," Lenalee told Winry. "I don't want to put you in danger."

"But I'm already involved. Anyway, you need someone to show you around the city," argued Winry. "Besides, holy jewelry hunting! This will be fun!"

Lenalee sighed. Winry was a good friend, and she really did like her. But she got the feeling Winry Rockbell wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box. Especially when it came to identifying danger. However, she could see the sense in someone who knew Central was accompanying her. All of the exorcists had split up to search. They each chose an Amestrian native to guide them through the large city. Roy had gone with Kanda, Allen had partnered up with Riza, and Lavi and the Elrics had teamed up. Lenalee sort of wished one of the others had come with her. They'd been searching for an hour without any results, so Lenalee doubted they'd run into any enemies any time soon. She still hoped Winry could take care of herself in a fight.

"Winry! Good afternoon!" across the street, woman called to them from her garden. Two large suitcases rested at her feet.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Blair!" Winry waved back. She crossed the road and Lenalee followed. Winry smiled at two young girls playing with dolls under the shade of a big tree in the yard. "Hi Elicia! Hi Amanda!"

"Big sis!" Elicia grinned at Winry.

"I haven't seen you around here before," the woman smiled kindly at Lenalee.

"This is my friend, Lenalee Li. She's visiting from Xing," Winry told the story everyone had agreed on. "Lenalee, this is Mrs. Blair."

"Nice to meet you," the two women shook hands.

"Winry, I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" requested Mrs. Blair. "Gracia set up a play date between Elicia and Amanda. It was just for the morning, and she was supposed to come and pick her up an hour ago." Mrs. Blair checked her watch. "My husband and I planned a trip to the South to visit some relatives. Amanda and I have to meet him at the train station soon. Would it be too much trouble for you to take Elicia home?"

"Oh, not at all," Winry assured her. "Mrs. Hughes forgot about Elicia? That's not like her. But then again, she hasn't been acting like herself lately."

"Maes' death has been very hard on her. I can't even _begin_ to imagine how much pain she must feel. Gracia's such a strong woman, but she must be feeling _terrible._ Honestly, what kind of villain would do that to Maes?" Mrs. Blair exhaled angrily.

A taxi drove up the street. It stopped at the curb in front of the house. The driver opened the trunk. Winry and Lenalee helped Mrs. Blair pile the suitcases in. After shutting the trunk, the Blairs got into the cab. Mrs. Blair rolled down her window to say good-bye.

"I hope you have fun," Winry told Mrs. Blair.

"We will. Thanks for the favour, Winry. It was nice to meet you, Lenalee. Please take some time to comfort Gracia when you see her," Mrs. Blair waved at them. "Good-bye!"

"Bye-bye 'Licia!" Amanda waved at her friend. Winry, Lenalee and Elicia all waved back. The taxi drove away.

"I hope you don't mind stopping by the Hughes' house," Winry told Lenalee as she took Elicia's hand. "Mr. Hughes died doing his duty."

"That's right. He was shot. Major Armstrong told me," recalled Lenalee.

"But this really _isn't_ like Mrs. Hughes. She must be hurting more than I thought!" said Winry.

"Let's get her home, then," Lenalee smiled kindly at Elicia, and took her other hand. They walked until they reached the Hughes' residence. Lenalee thought that it had an aura of gloom and foreboding. However, Winry didn't seem to notice. They marched to the door, and Winry rang the doorbell.

"Something about this house…" Lenalee shuddered.

"What?" Winry turned towards her blankly. A minute later, they heard the sound of the lock turning. The door opened a crack. A pretty woman with blonde-brown hair peeked out of the door. She had a kind face, but there were heavy bags under her eyes. Her vacant stare indicated that something was amiss, but Winry and Lenalee decided to ignore it.

"Mrs. Hughes! Hi! We just came to drop off Elicia," Winry told the woman cheerfully. "Oh, you don't look so well. Are you alright?"

Mrs. Hughes gave Winry and Elicia uninterested looks. However, something seemed to click in her empty eyes when her gaze fell upon Lenalee. She stared for so long that Lenalee cleared her throat to hint her discomfort.

"Oh, this is my friend Lenalee Li," introduced Winry. "She's one of the Elrics' cousin's friends that I told you about. They're from Xing. Lenalee, this is Mrs. Hughes."

"How do you do," Lenalee smiled and extended a hand.

"You…" Mrs. Hughes stared at Lenalee's hand as if it were pure poison. She focused her eyes on the cross rose that was embroidered on Lenalee's uniform. "An… exorcist?"

"That's right…" Lenalee frowned. She distinctively remembered that Amestris wasn't familiar with the Dark religious Organization. But then how did Mrs. Hughes know about exorcists?

"Well… come in…" Mrs. Hughes finally stopped looking at Lenalee. She opened the door wider, beckoning them. Elicia started towards her mother. Lenalee thought that something wasn't right about this woman. Her joints creaked like rusty hinges. Her voice was sad and hollow. And she knew about exorcists, when no one else in the city did… Lenalee gasped. She didn't know how it happened, but she suddenly knew exactly what Mrs. Hughes was.

"No!" Lenalee cried, pulling Elicia back. She forcefully shoved her towards the driveway. The young girl screamed her displeasure. Winry started to say something, but Lenalee tackled her aside. Now, it was only her facing against the woman.

"Lenalee! What's your problem!" Winry demanded, rushing to herd Elicia back to safety.

"Stay back!" Lenalee commanded.

"Lenalee! You're acting like an idiot! Apologize to Mrs. Hughes!" Winry yelled angrily, rejoining her on the porch. "I am _so_ sorry, Mrs. Hughes! Come on, Lenalee! Let's go!"

"You don't understand!" Lenalee turned around and confronted Winry. She pushed them further to back them up. "This woman's an akuma!"

"What are you talking about? Are you crazy? Seriously- _oh_." Winry suddenly saw what Lenalee was talking about. Her face suddenly changed from fury to horror. Lenalee heard the sound of creaking metal behind her. There was a ripping nose, like something tearing through skin and bone. Sounds of brick and wood crumbling could also be heard. Lenalee knew the akuma had cast aside its human disguise. Without a second thought, Lenalee tackled them and sent them flying towards the driveway. Neither protested.

"Yeah. The Millennium Earl is _here_," Lenalee turned back towards the grotesque shape.

Mrs. Hughes had toppled half the house in its transformation. The thin woman had taken the shape of a huge, black mechanic ball with cannons sticking out of its body. The ball displayed a face that faintly mirrored Mrs. Hughes. But instead of the kindly expression, it masked evil and hate. Lenalee's Innocence activated, and she propelled herself through the air. The akuma started shooting at her. Lenalee danced through them, unhurt.

"So that's an akuma!" gasped Winry.

"Winry, back up! Protect yourself and Elicia from the bullets!" Lenalee commanded.

"But what about you?" Winry stood rooted.

"I'll be fine! It's only Level One!" Lenalee gave the creature a mighty kick that sent it stumbling further into the house. Lenalee disappeared with it. Winry picked up Elicia and held her close. She was unsure what to do. Winry didn't want to run, but she didn't want to die either. She could see the house crashing as Lenalee and the Akuma continued their battle.

"Mrs. Hughes… an akuma…" Winry looked at Elicia, and suddenly realized what this meant. Elicia looked at her house with frightened eyes.

"Where's mommy? That big ball can't be her! What's happening to my house?" Elicia stared at Winry with large, innocent eyes. "Where's my mommy?"

"I'm sorry, Elicia…" Winry felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Your mommy's gone…"

"Gone? When will she back?"

"No, sweetie… she's not coming back… I'm so sorry…" Winry started crying. She buried her face in Elicia's curls. To her surprise, Elicia started patting her head.

"Don't cry, sis. Of course she'll be back! Won't she be back?" Elicia tugged at Winry's ponytail. "Where did mommy go?"

"She went somewhere far away…" Winry looked up. She felt a small hand on her cheek, wiping away her tears.

"Can we visit her?"

"No… I'm so sorry…" Winry sobbed harder. "She went somewhere we can't follow."

"Did mommy go visit daddy?" asked Elicia. Suddenly, a figure clad in black burst out of the roof. Winry saw with joy and relief that it was Lenalee. She twirled through the air, and landed gracefully beside them.

"Success. Mr. Hughes finally rests in peace," said Lenalee. Like Winry, she also correctly guessed whom Mrs. Hughes had tried to bring back. Lenalee looked curiously at Winry's tear-streaked face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Mommy and daddy are together now, Elicia." Winry's smile for Elicia was genuine. She tried to stop her crying, but it was futile. "They're alright. They're together now, Elicia."

--------------

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," grumbled Ed. "This is pointless. Let's go back."

"What's this? Giving up already?" Lavi gave Ed a friendly shove.

"We've been searching for an _hour_," Ed informed Lavi. "This is _pointless._"

"Aw, don't be so negative, Pipsqueak-kun! We'll find something!" encouraged Lavi. He narrowly dodged a metallic fist that flew at him with the force of a bullet. It shot past him, and hit the wall of the building they were walking beside. "Oy! What's the big idea?"

"Don't. Call. Me. Pipsqueak." Ed growled through gritted teeth. He pulled his arm back. A neat fist-sized imprint remained in the whitewashed wall. Ed stomped away. Lavi imagined if that had been his face, and shuddered.

"Brother's rather sensitive about his height," explained Al. He pulled out a piece of blue chalk, and drew a transmutation circle onto the wall. He quickly fixed it, and raced after his brother. Lavi whistled at the Elrics' impressiveness.

"Hey, Lavi!" Lavi turned around to see who had called his name. He saw Allen and Riza running towards his direction.

"Hi, Beansprout! Hi, Hawk-chan!" Lavi waved enthusiastically at them.

"It's Allen! A-_llen_," Allen corrected him.

" 'Hawk-chan'?" Riza narrowed her eyes at her new nickname. She looked around. "Where are the Elrics?"

"I called Ed a pipsqueak and he got mad so they left," shrugged Lavi.

"I'm not surprised. Ed's rather sensitive about his height," Riza told him.

"So Alu-chan told me. Did you guys find anything?" questioned Lavi.

"No. Maybe we should go back to headquarters?" suggested Allen.

"Let's find the Elrics first," suggested Lavi. The other agreed, and started walking towards the direction the Elrics disappeared off to.

--------------

"The nerve of that jerk!" grumbled Ed. He and Alphonse had reached military training grounds. "Call me short, will he? Make fun of my height? When I've never even said a _thing_ about that stupid eye patch of his! Which he probably wears because he thinks it makes him look cool! And it doesn't!"

"Brother, I'm sure he didn't mean it! Calm down!" Alphonse urged Edward.

"Jerk!" growled Ed. He finally stopped to catch his breath.

"So what do you think of all of these exorcists?" questioned Al.

"They seem legitimate. They're okay, I guess. Except for that bastard Lavi," Edward was fuming.

"Edward, calm down…"

"Hey! Ed!" Roy and Kanda approached them.

"Found anything yet?" asked Ed.

"No. You?"

"No. So this is useless after all. Maybe they already got all of them," Ed exhaled. "I wonder how the others are doing?"

"Ah! Good afternoon, all! What a beautiful day it is!" A pleasant voice spoke behind them. Ed, Al, Roy and Kanda all turned towards its direction. It was the Fuhrer, accompanied by his secretary.

"Fuhrer King Bradley, sir!" Roy respectfully saluted him. Of course, he remembered the discussion they'd had earlier about the homunculi. However, even though he trusted Allen's judgement, he was still a little reluctant to admit that his _Fuhrer_ was a _homunculus._

"Our visitor from Xing is still here, I see. I hope you're enjoying Amestris!" The Fuhrer's smile was kind, but he and Juliet seemed to be keeping their distance away from the group.

Kanda rudely ignored him. His cold grey eyes bore into the Fuhrer, scrutinizing his face. Kanda also remembered the conversation, but unlike Roy, he had no qualms about accepting it. He drew his sword, and stepped towards the Fuhrer.

"Ohoho! So you are also a master of the sword?" the Fuhrer stepped back, deepening Kanda's suspicions.

"You are the homunculus named Pride." Kanda moved quickly. He moved right in front of the Fuhrer, and soon had him trapped against a wall. Kanda pressed his blade against the Fuhrer's throat. King Bradley seemed to weaken. He crashed down to his knees. He started gagging, and turned his face towards the ground. Something red and slimy came out of his mouth.

"Red Water!" gasped Ed, who saw the liquid from where he stood.

"Foul creature. Now you die." Kanda's voice held no sentiment. He had killed so many times, this was now only a job. The exorcist jabbed his weapon through the Fuhrer's neck. The blade came out through the other side. It was soaked with crimson liquid. The Fuhrer kept on gagging out the Red Water. Kanda twisted the sword around, gauging the hole deeper and deeper. However, the Fuhrer didn't die. He just kept on coughing.

"Why is he still alive?" demanded Edward.

"We are homunculi, not those inferior akuma," explained the secretary, who still kept her distance. "Your holy tools weaken us. It also prevents us from using our special powers. That is why Pride has been subdued so easily. Innocence alone won't kill us."

"I guess we'll have to keep killing you until you do!" Lavi, Allen and Riza raced in behind Juliet. They quickly surrounded her, and stepped towards her. The woman tried to use her aquatic powers. Her hand turned into liquid for a few seconds, but it changed back as the Innocence-wielders came closer.

"Sloth, is it?" Lavi gave her a pleasant smile. "Nice to meet you!"

He brought his hammer down on her neck. Because of its size, quite a hideous sound ensued. Sloth choked out some Red Water. Riza trained her gun on the homunculus, and fired. Instead of bullets, bright lights shot out and hit Sloth in the stomach. The lights seemed more effective than bullets. Both of the homunculi were now harmlessly crouching on the ground, regurgitating Red Water. Yet neither died.

"Greed told me how to kill the homunculi," Edward told Roy.

"Yeah?"

"When confronted with a part of the human they were transmuted from, they become weak. The effects of the Red Stones are nullified. When their Red Stones run out, they die," said Ed. "I guess Innocence also affects them in the same way. But it won't kill them. We have to kill them using alchemy."

"So it's up to the two of us, huh?" Roy pulled his gloves tighter. Now, he was all business.

"Do you notice how the secretary's form seems to keep converting to liquid?" Ed pointed at the secretary, who was still surrounded by the Innocence wielders. Indeed, Sloth did just that, but she always solidified just before her body dispersed. Ed grinned at Roy. "I'll take that one. You're useless against water."

Roy muttered something nasty about Ed's (lack of) height, and they rushed towards their opponents. Al decided to join his brother. Roy stopped before the Fuhrer, with his hand outstretched. Kanda stepped aside a little to give him some space.

"Mustang… don't…" the Fuhrer seemed quite pathetic. He turned his eyes pleadingly towards Roy. "Let me live… there's a promotion…"

"Do you honestly think that's all I care about?" Roy snapped his fingers.

The sparks flew towards the Fuhrer, quickly turning into fire and burning him. He screamed in agony, tearing at his hair. Kanda's sword remained implanted in his neck, but it suffered no damage. Roy burnt the Fuhrer down to the bone, but he formed out of the ashes again. Roy burnt him again. And again. And again. Pride kept on regenerating, but he was a little more incomplete each time. Roy knew he would have to die eventually. He concentrated on his task. Roy's eyes were as cold as the flames that burnt Pride were hot. And something like respect crept on Kanda's face as he watched.

Meanwhile, Ed and Al were having a little more trouble getting started. They stepped between the exorcists, confident about their task. They stood over Sloth, ready to finish her off. Then, she looked at them.

The Elrics gasped. The resemblance between Sloth and Tricia Elric was undeniable. In fact, she was what his mother might have looked like if she had become a career woman. Her hair, her eyes, her face, her voice… this _had_ to be her. They looked at each other, and frowned. But it wasn't possible. Their mother _died._ This woman was a _homunculus._ And the ugly truth hit them.

_They _had created Sloth. Ed and Al had taken their mother, and created this _monster_ from her. Ed struggled not to cry. How could such an abomination be borne from love? How could such innocent children shape such a hideous being? Al wished he could cry. He realized that sacrificing that ability, and many others, were futile. How could sacrificing so much yield nothing? How was it _possible?_

"It was _you_… who created… _me_." Sloth gasped out through a mouthful of blood and Red Water. "You _loved_ her. You loved her enough to sacrifice all this, just to bring her back. Yet, in the end, you only conjured… _me_."

"Because it wasn't Equivalent Exchange," whispered Alphonse.

"Every life is only equal to one thing, and that thing is itself," added Edward. "The dead can never come back to life."

"And when they do… they're never the same again. They're not human anymore. In the end, both the dead and the one who brought them back regret their choice." Allen walked between the Elrics. He put his arms around them in understanding. "We've all made the same mistake."

"And now, I have to correct mine." Ed flexed his hands. Alphonse and Allen stepped back respectfully. Edward clapped his hands down on the ground. A large, pan-shaped thing appeared around him and Sloth. Ed clapped his hands again, and touched the homunculus. Her body changed colours, and her form softened. Sloth took on a semi-aquatic appearance. She shimmered and rippled, but maintained her form. Edward stepped out of the pan and took his place beside his brother.

"Hey, Mustang! Looks like you can help after all!" Ed called to the Colonel.

Roy had just cremated Pride again. By now, only a charred skeleton rose from the remains. It had lost the ability to scream, but its agony was obvious. It also lacked the muscle to pull it up, but somehow managed to move anyway. Its left eye still remained in its socket. A red Ouroborus glowed clearly upon it. Roy snapped his fingers again. When the flames died down, only the eye remained. It looked like a shiny white marble. It rolled over to Kanda's direction, and the Ouroborus seemed to be staring up at him. Kanda crushed it under his boot. When he lifted up his foot, it had been reduced to ashes. Both Roy and Kanda watched, waiting for something to happen. A large gust of wind blew. Kanda's long ponytail danced in response to it. The Fuhrer's ashes were stepped away. Roy faced the direction they blew off to, and sort of gave a half-salute. Then, he turned towards Edward.

"So I'm useless, huh?" Roy sneered. He pointed his arm towards the direction of the giant pan, and snapped his fingers. The bright sparks found their way to the bottom of the pot, and started burning. At first, nothing happened. Sloth was still weak and watery, but she seemed as alive as ever.

"Um… fire doesn't burn water," Lavi informed Ed.

"I know! I'm not stupid!" snapped Edward. "Just watch!" So everybody did. Nothing happened for quite a while. The heat of the pan rose. Then, as a result of the temperature, Sloth began to evaporate.

"Good plan, boys. Three down, four to go…" Sloth smiled wearily at the Elrics. Then, she looked at the rest of the group. "The homunculi, anyway."

"Where's the rest?" demanded Riza.

"In the other world… I will tell you what the Millennium Earl told us…as long as the four Innocences remain without owners, the portal between Munich and Central remain open. Only special humans may cross it. When the four Innocences find their rightful owners, the portal will allow all to pass through. When the exorcists cross over to fight the evil, it will close. And when the evil is defeated, all paths through the worlds will close permanently." Sloth's form was so faint, they could see right through her.

"How does the Earl know?" asked Roy.

"He knows many things," shrugged Sloth.

"Why are you telling us?" questioned Lavi.

"I don't care what happens to the Earl. In fact, I'd prefer it if he and his nasty little family were wiped out. I can't stand their superior attitude. He came to us after he discovered the portal, and our leader decided she liked him. Naturally, the rest of us supported her decision, but I don't suppose they like the Noahs any better." Now, only a pale outline of Sloth's features remained.

"What can you tell us about the Noahs?" asked Allen.

"Be careful. There are only four homunculi left, but there's definitely no shortage of akuma. And the Noahs… they are even stronger than the homunculi. Don't underestimate them…" Sloth was almost wiped out completely. Something that looked like her mouth turned up, and whispered her final words: "Good luck." Then, Sloth was gone.

"Guys! Guys! You'll never believe what just happened!" Winry came racing into the training grounds. Lenalee followed a few meters behind her, cradling a slumbering Elicia in her arms. "I just saw an akuma!"

"It was Mrs. Hughes," explained Lenalee. She gave them the details.

"Oh. So that means Maes…" Roy's eyes widened. "What did he… she… the akuma… Maes… what did it look like?" Lenalee described the akuma. "You really killed him?" Roy's voice was shaking. Riza walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I did what I was supposed to," Lenalee looked at him apologetically. "The akuma was neither Mr. Hughes, Mrs. Hughes, or even human."

"Maes died _twice._" Roy felt moisture at the corner of his eyes. Unable to control himself, he started crying, like at his friend's funeral. Roy rested his head on Riza's shoulder. She put her arms around him, and patted his back comfortingly.

"Mr. Mustang?" After a while, Roy felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He looked up, and saw Allen standing beside Riza. The white-haired boy had a sympathetic smile on his face, but Roy could see Allen had suffered pain much worse than this. "Akuma are machines of the Earl's. They are slaves… no, _puppets,_ with no choice but to listen to him. When an exorcist kills an akuma, their souls are set free from their prison. Mr. Hughes is free now."

"Maes knew what was happening with Sloth, and maybe even Pride. He died for this cause… he died _twice,"_ said Riza. "It would be an insult to his memory if we mope around without seeing this through. Maes wouldn't want that. So cheer up, okay?" Riza smiled at Roy.

"Okay," Roy nodded. He wiped his tears, and turned to his friends. Thankfully, no one had said a word about his outburst. "There are two more Innocences, and three potential exorcists. We have to find them as soon as possible. Obviously, we weren't looking hard enough before-"

Roy was interrupted by a loud, musical sound. Something in one of Allen's pockets started to glow. Curiously, Allen pulled out the heart-shaped Innocence from his pocket. It shot out of his hand, and levitated towards Lenalee. It stopped a short distance before Elicia. Then, it plunged into her collar, point-first. Elicia's eyes shot open. The Innocence wasn't painful, but it was a shocking experience nonetheless. A heart-shaped figure glowed for a few seconds. Then, it reduced in size and brightness. Finally, only a pink, heart-shaped crystal showed on her collar.

"A little girl this young can't possibly…" gasped Roy.

"Oh, yes she can," Lenalee assured her.

"But… she's only five! Sure, the Dark Religious Organization won't let her _fight_ for them?" demanded Riza.

"They will. They'll force her to." Lenalee hugged Elicia a little tighter. Memories of her own painful recruitment was brought back.

"Mommy went to visit daddy, didn't she? Can we go?" Elicia asked brightly.

"Oh, Elicia. I'm so sorry. Where she went… we can never follow." Lenalee realized how much she and Elicia were alike. The only difference was that Elicia didn't have a caring older sibling to help her through these troubled times. She then decided that _she_ would protect Elicia.

"Why not? Did she leave me? Did mommy forget?" Now there was a note of panic in her voice.

"She'd never do that. She loved you," Edward told him. He, Alphonse and Allen had joined Lenalee.

"She couldn't help going away," added Alphonse.

"It wasn't her fault. When she left… she didn't know that she'd never seen you again." Winry was reminded how she lost her parents.

She shot Roy a pained look, only to see that he was crying again. Winry sighed. Perhaps her parents and Elicia's died in different ways, but they had many similarities. All of them were killed by ignorance. And their deaths were the results of a great way. By now, everybody in the training ground knew they were part of a war. And they knew that victory would not come easy, but they certainly could not afford to lose. Winry realized that, although she still had her grandmother, Elicia had no one. Winry decided _she_ would take care of Elicia. She looked at Roy again, and saw that he was crying. Riza was embracing him. Roy looked like a sad, young soldier. Winry wondered if that was how he looked when he killed her parents. She knew he must have felt remorse for it. He certainly didn't mean it. Winry sighed again, and decided to let go of any anger she had towards him.

"Can I go bring her back?" inquired Elicia.

"No. I'm sorry." Allen's face was sad. "You can't. If you do, you'll regret it forever."


	6. Chapter 6: New Recruits

Sheska sped through the halls of the Central headquarters excitedly. She was clutching a book to her chest. Sheska was running faster than any librarian had ever run before. She only stopped when she reached a door with a tag that said "Col. R. Mustang". Sheska burst into the room, slamming the door behind her. She had been previously silent, but could no longer contain her excitement.

"Guys! Guys! Look what I found!" she chirped. Her news might have met with as warm a reception as she'd expected if Kanda weren't the only person in the office.

"What?" he asked indifferently, eating his lunch of tempura soba.

"Oh! _Konnichiwa, Kanda-sama!_" Sheska bowed politely, repeating the phrase Lavi had told her to address him with. She was a little intimidated by the sword-wielding exorcist. Sheska looked around. "Where's the Colonel?"

"Colonel Mustang and his subordinates are currently searching for the Fuhrer."

"Oh, that's right! He went missing! Where's Ed and Al?" questioned Sheska.

"Pipsqueak's looking, too. Tin Can, Beansprout and the others are visiting the Hughes' residence." Kanda gave Sheska a suspicious look. "Why aren't you looking for the Fuhrer?"

"Non-commissioned officers aren't assigned such important jobs. Did I disturb you? _Gomenasai_." Sheska bowed.

"You don't have to talk to me in Japanese. I can speak fluent English," Kanda regarded her crossly.

"Oh. _Gomen._ Lavi told me to," Sheska bowed again.

"Did he?" Kanda scoffed. "What did you want to show?"

"Oh!" Sheska grinned, proudly holding out her book. It was bound in black leather. The book was rather small; no bigger than 3" x 5". It was very thin, appearing to have no more than 150 pages. A strange aura surrounded it. There was a small, golden feather embedded in the cover. Kanda walked over took it from her. He opened it. The book's pages were creamy and white. Kanda flipped through the pages. His face changed from its usual indifference to annoyance.

"A blank diary?" he glared at Sheska.

"_Gomenasai!_ It's just that I was browsing in the library today, and I came across this book. It seemed to _glow_ when I touched it. It had sort of the same aura as you, Allen, Lenalee and Lavi. I thought you might be interested, but I guess not. You don't believe in auras, do you? I'm sorry for bothering you!" Sheska's face was bright red. She bowed, and turned to go.

The diary flew out of Kanda's hands. It shot towards Sheska, and hit her on the back of her head. Sheska turned back to confront Kanda. Indignant tears sparkled at the corners of her eyes.

"Really, Mr. Kanda! I understand your annoyance, but do you really think it's necessary to throw the diary at me?" she wailed.

"I didn't throw it. Look behind you," Kanda crossed his arms. Sheska swerved around. The diary was hovering a few inches from her face. She turned back and looked at Kanda uncertainly. He gave her a slight nod. Sheska reached out and took it. The diary gave a bright burst of golden light.

"Auras, huh?"

"Well, sort of. The diary just had that certain _energy_ that you exorcists displayed," Sheska wrinkled her forehead in thought. "Come to think of it, Lieutenant Hawkeye has been displaying that energy as well. Yesterday, when Winry and I were talking, she also had the same aura."

"Was Elicia Hughes with her?" Kanda now regarded Sheska with slight interest.

"Yeah, I guess-"

Suddenly, the shattering windows very rudely interrupted them. Half a dozen great shapes burst into the room. They were metallic and round, with cannons sticking out of their grotesque bodies. There was something that resembled a human face on each of the spheres. But the faces were empty and mask-like, barely resembling humans. They were akuma. Kanda brandished his sword. He quickly ran his fingers down the blade, activating his Innocence. He had done this so many times, it was routine.

"What on earth!" gasped Sheska.

"They're akuma!" Kanda snapped.

"What are akuma?" asked Sheska.

Kanda ignored her. He leapt towards the first one. He held his sword high above him, and slashed it through it. He sliced its metallic body as if it were butter. It gave an anguished scream. Not stopping to see his handiwork, Kanda turned to the next one. It suffered a similar fate. Then, a shriek from Sheska's direction prompted him to turn back. Kanda cursed as he rushed over to rescue her from an akuma that had been hovering above her.

"You stay out of this!" he commanded, pointing towards the door. "Get lost!"

"What? Can you handle them?" asked Sheska.

"Who do you think I am? Of course I can handle them!" Kanda snapped. "You're in my way! _Go!_"

Sheska was all too happy to oblige. She ran towards the door, clutching the diary tightly to her chest. Kanda turned and made a scrap heap out of the akuma that was trying to sneak up on them. Now only two were left. They did charge towards neither the exorcist nor the librarian. Instead, they parked themselves onto the floor. Then, the pair of akuma began to twirl around. They began to shoot. Between the two, they were able to cover every angle in the room. Their poisonous bullets pierced everything, and nothing was spared. Kanda waited for them to stop. Several bullets hit him, but he possessed Innocence. Their poison could not hurt him. Sheska on the other hand…

After a while, the akuma stopped. Through the thick smoke, Kanda saw a figured crumpled on the ground. Sheska. Kanda sneered. Too bad, so sad. He'd warned her. He felt no remorse. Kanda waited for the mousy librarian to deteriorate from the poison. The, the smoke cleared. To Kanda's surprise a translucent, oval shield covered her, shielding her from the bullets. Sheska sat up and glared at her attackers furiously. The shield was glowing rusty red to match her anger. There was a small, golden feather in the center of the shield. Kanda's eyes widened. Could it be…!

"Stop it!" Sheska yelled at them.

They could not hear her. One of the akuma leapt behind her. Both trained their cannons at the librarian. They began another round of firing. The shield rearranged into a golden, dome-shaped shield that covered Sheska at all angles. It absorbed the bullets, rendering them useless. The shield reverted back into a diary after they stopped shooting. The akuma leapt towards Sheska. She cowered beneath the diary, which was floating above her. The akuma got closer to her. Kanda made no move to help. He knew that Sheska would need to learn to defend herself. And he knew she would be able to.

Sure enough, when they'd gotten within two meters of Sheska, The diary did not shape-shift, but remained levitated. It opened itself. A bright golden light emitted from it as the pages flipped. The akuma were sucked in. They screeched. The book closed after both of them were completely devoured. The hung mid-air for about another thirty seconds, still glowing. It vibrated, as if it were digesting the akuma. Then, it stopped glowing. The diary floated over and placed itself into Sheska's hands.

"Get up," Kanda commanded. Sheska slowly stood up. She looked at Kanda questioningly.

"Kanda-sama? What-"

"I don't feel like explaining. Ask Beansprout later," Kanda cut her off. He looked at her seriously, and gave her a piece of advice: "Rookies like you always die the fastest. Don't ever let down your guard."

--------------

"What a waste of time!" groaned Edward as he, Riza, Havoc, Armstrong and Mustang trudged along the streets of Central. They had been assigned to search for their leader in the city.

"Remember what Hakuro said. Every nook and cranny," Roy reminded them. They turned a corner, and came upon a residential street. Roy grimly stared at it. This was where the Hughes used to live.

"Colonel?" Riza laid a hand on his shoulder. Roy slowly made his way down the street. It was a cheerful, picture-perfect neighbourhood. The houses were well taken care of. The lawns were mowed and watered. The flowers were growing beautifully. Picture-perfect, except for the pile of rubble that lay in the place his friend's house used to be.

"Mr. Mustang!" Allen, Lenalee and Alphonse waved at him. They were on their hands and knees, digging through the remains of the house.

"Still looking?" asked Alphonse.

"Yeah. Hakuro assigned us to Central. We've spent the whole morning knocking on doors and going through homes," Ed rolled his eyes. He looked around. "Where's Winry?"

"Winry and Lavi took Elicia down to the park. She got bored," said Allen.

"What are _you_ doing?" questioned Armstrong.

"You heard about how the Hughes' home was destroyed. We're trying to salvage what we can," explained Lenalee. "You know… for Elicia."

"Of course," nodded Roy sadly. He walked over to join them.

"Oh! What a beautiful story! Sympathetic children who have lived hard lives, helping another whom misfortune placed in a similar fate! How absolutely, inspiringly beautiful!" Armstrong sobbed. He dashed over and grabbed Allen, Lenalee and Alphonse in bone-crunching hugs. "I shall help you!"

"I'll help too, Lenalee!" proclaimed Havoc, joining in.

Armstrong and Havoc began digging enthusiastically. Roy went at a slower, more careful pace. Lenalee, Allen and Alphonse went back to digging, although the first two had to wait for feeling to come back into their bodies. Ed and Riza shrugged and joined them. After half an hour, the group had uncovered a few stuffed animals, one of Elicia's colouring books, a framed photo of the whole Hughes family, and a strange piece of crystal. The crystal was green and shaped like a leaf. However, no one mistook it for a real leaf because it was transparent, and a shade of emerald green not found in nature. It was rather small; it fit easily on the thumbnail of Armstrong, who had found it.

"Most peculiar!" Armstrong held it to the light. He could not be so sure, since the afternoon was so bright, but he thought the crystal was glowing.

"Hey, what'd you find?" asked Ed. Armstrong showed him.

"Maybe it belonged to Mrs. Hughes," suggested Alphonse. "Perhaps it was part of a necklace?"

"What was?" Lenalee joined them. When she saw the leaf, she sharply inhaled, and called Allen over.

"It's glowing," noted Allen.

"Oh! So I am not the only one who noticed!" said Armstrong. He examined it closely. "It is so exquisite…"

The leaf suddenly gave a bright burst of light that nobody could deny seeing. It jumped out of Armstrong's hands, and spun around his head rapidly. Armstrong grew dizzy trying to follow it with his eyes. Then, with a whoosh, it flew into the spiky gauntlet Armstrong was wearing on his right arm. IT gave another burst of light, then glimmered calmly on the back of Armstrong's gauntlet.

"Could it be another Innocence?" Lenalee was the first to voice everyone's thoughts.

"Mine acted like that when it found me," recalled Riza.

"I bet it is!" said Allen.

"There's only one left…" observed Roy.

"We should find the last as soon as possible," decided Edward. Suddenly, Winry came running up the street, clutching Elicia in her arms.

"Allen! Lenalee! Riza! You have to come!" she called. She raced up to the group and stopped, panting heavily. "The park… Lavi's fighting them… so many! You have to go!"

"Akuma?" gasped Allen. Winry nodded breathlessly. Without a word, Allen took off. Riza remembered that she also classified as an exorcist, and followed him. Roy chased after Riza.

"How many have already died?" asked Lenalee.

"All of the people at the park… Lavi protected us and let us escape…" Winry wheezed.

"Major Armstrong, please come with me!" Lenalee turned to the large man.

"Why?" Armstrong was still staring at his gauntlet in perplexity.

"Please! Come!" Lenalee's voice was so urgent that Armstrong consented, and they ran off towards the park.

"What's going on?" Havoc stared at Ed and Al. He had been fed the same story as everybody else. He narrowed his eyes. "Edward, Alphonse, is Allen really your cousin? Are those people really from Xing? What's happening?"

"No time to explain!" said Ed. He and Alphonse dashed away. When they arrived at the park, they were met with a scene of destruction. Winry was right. There were many akuma. Ed estimated about forty, and it looked like Lavi and Allen had already been through quite a few. To everyone's great relief, the akuma were all Level 1.

"Brother?" Alphonse's voice was choked. "I didn't know there were so many people… who wished for the same thing as us…"

"We're humans, Alphonse. We can't help but love," Ed's voice was breaking as well. "Only sick, twisted creatures like the Earl could think of ways to turn our love into… _monsters._"

"What are these monstrosities?" gasped Armstrong.

"They're akuma, Major. That leaf gives you the power to fight them," explained Lenalee. She leapt up and kicked one. It exploded. She turned to Ed, Al and Roy. "Stay away! You'll get hurt!"

"Power?" Armstrong looked curiously at the leaf. He had already grown fond of his new decoration, but he was quite unsure of what Lenalee meant. One of the huge balls stumbled towards his direction. The fighting spirit of the Armstrong took over, and he spontaneously punched it. A burst of power traveled from his fist to the akuma. It combusted. He punched one who was coming up behind him with his other fist. Although his left hand did not hold the Innocence, the akuma also exploded.

"Just like that! You're doing great!" Lenalee encouraged him. She delivered a killing kick to another akuma. Meanwhile, Allen, Riza and Lavi had their hands full with other akuma. Riza had succeeded in killing quite a few. After a while, only fifteen were left. One of them began firing. It was closest to Riza, and she was hit. She stumbled and fell onto the ground. Pentacles crossed her face as the akuma's poison entered her body.

"Stay back!" Allen yelled at Roy, Ed and Al. The Elrics quickly obeyed, but Roy remained in his spot. He was staring at Riza with a look of horror. He glared at the akuma hatefully. Not thinking about his actions, Roy reached into his pockets. He pulled his combustion cloth gloves on. Aiming for the akuma, he snapped his fingers.

Sparks traveled through the air. They reached the akuma, who was still firing. A small explosion occurred. The akuma screamed a gut-wrenching cry. The cry of someone whose soul had been ripped out and thrown into he deepest fires of hell. Not stopping, Roy killed about seven more before Allen tackled him.

"Don't!" cried Allen.

"Riza!" Roy struggled to push Allen away.

"Can we kill them, too?" Ed asked. He clapped his hands on the ground. Blue transmutation sparks appeared. They traveled along the ground, blowing up the first akuma it came in contact with. Ed killed another one in the same manner.

"No!" shouted Allen. He jumped and slashed through the rest as if their souls depended on it. They were a few minutes of thick smoke. When it cleared, everybody could see that all the akuma were gone.

"Riza!" Roy ran to his subordinate's side. He kneeled down beside her, and gently lifted her up. Roy cradled her in his arms. There were black pentacles on her face. Roy shouted her name again. Riza opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Roy, I'll be alright." Riza placed her gun against her heart. There were chiming sounds, and blinding white light. Roy had to close his eyes. When he opened them again, the poison was gone. Riza stood up. "Don't worry about me. I'm an exorcist." She helped Roy up, and looked at him sternly. "But what you did was really stupid. Rushing into the battle like that! What if you'd gotten killed?"

"I couldn't help it," Roy shrugged sheepishly. "I just didn't want you to get hurt." Roy and Riza shared a mutual smile, and went to join the others.

Allen had crashed on the ground beside the Elrics. He disengaged his Innocence. Allen stood up and patted himself off. He looked down at his boots as he tried to hold in his tears.

"Allen?" Alphonse sensed Allen's sadness right away.

"I'm fine," Allen looked up and smiled. But a tear that leaked out of his eye and streamed down his cheek foiled his act.

"What's wrong?" asked Ed.

"It's nothing!" Allen turned away.

"Did we not defeat the evil monstrosities? Why are you sad?" Armstrong still didn't everything, but by then, he had deducted that akuma bad.

"They're not monsters. They're _human…_ humans that made mistakes," Allen informed him.

"Well, they're dead. Nothing to worry about now," Ed dusted his hands off carelessly. Allen swerved around and glared at him. Ed looked back in surprise. "What?"

"Akuma have souls as well! Those souls have no control of what they do because they belong to their Earl, but they are still the souls of humans!" Allen snapped. "They don't choose to attack us! They attacked us because they were programmed to do so!"

"Stop that!" Lenalee came up behind Allen. Her face was fierce. "Allen, we're exorcists! It's our job to protect the humans, not defend the akuma!"

"I don't see what the problem is. The souls of those akuma are free now. They've been liberated. They don't have to obey the Duke, or whatever anymore," Ed failed to comprehend Allen's sadness.

"It's not like that. When an akuma is not freed by exorcism… when it is killed in some other way… its soul can never be redeemed. The souls of those akuma you killed… they can never be saved…" Allen hastily wiped away the steady waterfall of tears. "Akuma can be killed in other ways, but only exorcism can save them. I want to be someone that both protects and saves…"

"This is the role of an exorcist. We protect the humans. We kill the akuma… or liberate their souls," said Lavi. All three exorcists looked at the new recruits seriously.

"This is our fate," Lenalee told them. Riza and Armstrong nodded solemnly.

-------------

"Where were you?" Kanda asked the group grouchily when they trooped in. Sheska was sitting in the couch across from him, reading a newspaper. Her diary lay on her lap, still giving a faint glow.

"We found another exorcist," Lenalee told him happily.

"So what. So did I," Kanda seemed unimpressed. "This many of you and you only got one?"

"What? Another exorcist?" Ed and Al looked around, only spotting Sheska. "Where?"

Kanda nodded towards Sheska's direction.

"Did you explain everything?" asked Lavi. Kanda gave him a look.

"Of course not!" Lenalee rolled her eyes. She sat down beside Sheska and proceeded to tell her about the exorcists. They had already explained everything to Armstrong before. The explanation matched up to the events, and Sheska was quickly convinced.

"We should talk to Komui," decided Allen. Timcanpi flew out of his sleeve. It opened its mouth, and a screen popped out. It showed an image of Komui sitting at his desk… sleeping.

"Komui!" yelled Allen and Lavi. Komui continued to snore. Lavi and Allen called his name again, but with no success. Kanda walked up behind them. He uttered three little magic words.

"Lenalee's getting married."

"_NOOOOOOO! LENALEE! Are you already leaving me for a stranger you met in that country!_" Komui woke up and screeched, tears in his eyes.

"We've found all four exorcists, brother," said Lenalee. Komui had already been told about the events of the previous day.

"Great! Then you can come back!" Komui grinned.

"But what if there are more akuma here? The people here can't kill them! They'll just keep on growing, and killing!" realized Roy.

"Yes… that could be a problem… you could try to kill all of them first.." Komui wrinkled his forehead in thought.

"Actually, we found out that alchemy can kill them too," said Lavi.

"We've got other alchemists here," said Riza.

"My subordinates and I can keep an eye on things," suggested Roy.

"Good idea! I'll send you a video golem. That way, we can keep in touch with your world," decided Komui. "But you should get here as soon as possible. You remember what Sloth said about the Gate after all the Innocences were given to their owners."

Everyone agreed, and they quickly put their plan into motion. Komui sent them one of the best video golems that was strong enough to transport signals through dimensions. Roy called Falman, Breda and Fuery up to his office. He explained everything. They were rather wary at first, but a quick show-and-tell of Innocences and a viewing of Allen and Lenalee's battle convinced them. After everything was arranged, they all walked back towards the shed where they'd first met. When they arrived, Marta was there as well.

"I heard that the Military is searching for the Fuhrer," said Marta. "Will they ever find him?"

"No. He's dead," replied Roy. Marta nodded in comprehension. "We're going to the exorcist's world. However, there are still some akuma in this world. They can be destroyed by alchemy."

"I am created from alchemy. Maybe I can fight them, too." Marta smiled. "Good luck."

"Well, I think we should go," said Allen. He opened the door to the shed. Armstrong fearlessly stepped in. Kanda, Lavi and Sheska followed. Riza waved at Roy. She was also about to step in, when Roy caught her hand.

"I'm coming with you," he told her.

"What are you-"

"I'm going. Please keep an eye on things," Roy told his subordinates and Marta. He tossed the video golem at them, and Breda caught it. They respectfully saluted him.

"Come if you must," Riza sighed. "Take care of Black Hayate." Fuery agreed. Black Hayate barked in good-bye. Riza and Roy went in together.

"Wait… are there more female exorcists? With uniforms like yours?" asked Jean, eyeing the cut of Lenalee's skirt.

"I guess…" Lenalee raised her eyebrows.

"I'll follow you, Colonel!" Jean raced into the shed, blood drooping out of his nose.

"I guess we should go, too." Lenalee picked up Elicia. They waved.

"Wait! I want to come!" decided Winry. "Elicia has nobody… I want to be there for her!"

"What about Grandma Pinako?" asked Al.

"She'll understand," decided Winry.

"For Elicia, then," Lenalee and Winry exchanged smiles, and the three of them entered the portal.

"Well, I guess this is good-bye," sighed Allen.

"Yeah. Good luck," said Ed.

"You guys… about your mother… I want you to know that I understand your pain. I've experienced something like it myself." Allen gave Ed a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I respect your strength. Good-bye."

"You've experienced…?" Ed was suddenly struck with the urge to find out more about this exorcist who resembled him in perhaps more than just appearance. He also wanted to support his friends, and the Organization who had given so much to defeat the evil.

"We'll go, too!" decided Alphonse, who was having the same thoughts as Edward.

"What?" Allen blinked.

"Yeah! You guys take care of things here!" Ed told Marta, Breda, Falman and Fuery.

"See you!" Alphonse and Edward pushed past Allen and dashed into the portal.

"Do your best," said Marta.

"Good luck!" chorused Roy's subordinates. Allen smiled and waved at them. He stepped into the shed, and closed the door. Bright light flooded the inside of the shed, and leaked to the outside. Marta and the others had to close their eyes. When they opened them, the shed was gone. The exorcists were travelling back to their world. The shed was like a boat carrying them to war. Each soldier inside knew the seriousness of their job, but they could not begin to predict was in store for them.

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**Note: **And here is another chapter. Sorry it took so long to update.

The D. Gray-man anime finally came out! Who saw it? Great, ne? I thought Allen looked a little too old. He lost his resemblance to Edward, though. I still can't believe they made Kanda's hair PURPLE (ok, indigo. Either way, it's not black.) If you haven't seen it yet, it's on Youtube. Watch it! It's totally awesome!


	7. Chapter 7: Enter and Exit

The group was made aware of their arrival by a large crash that sent them all staggering. Under normal circumstances, all of them would have collided with the floor. Since the shed was so crowded, they just all fell against each other. Except for Armstrong, who fell against the wall because he was standing in the back.

"Isn't this cozy?" Lavi grinned at Winry, who had fallen against him. Winry giggled.

"For you, maybe," grumbled Kanda, who stood beside him.

"Alphonse! Please be careful!" Lenalee begged Al. Standing in front of Kanda, she tried to prevent Elicia from being squashed.

"Move, Tin Can!" Kanda shoved Alphonse somewhat (okay, very) rudely with the hilt of Mugen. At that moment, the shed gave a great lurch forward. The motion, combined with Kanda's shove, made Alphonse stagger forward. Of course, that also pushed Ed forward, and Ed pushed Allen forward. Allen was right against the door, and he fell against it. The door opened to reveal the very street the exorcists had entered the portal through. It was nighttime in Munich, and the street was not lit. After a while, everyone warily stepped out. As soon as the last person exited the portal, it vanished.

"I guess we're stuck," said Ed.

"Until we defeat the Earl," agreed Riza.

"We should go to Headquarters," decided Lenalee.

Allen looked around. "How exactly are we going to get there?"

"Sir Exorcists! You made it!" three men dressed in white appeared from behind a building to greet them. They were Finders for the Black Church. Allen examined them carefully, then nodded to show they were trust-worthy.

"There are many of you," a thin, blonde Finder noted.

"Some of the useless ones decided to tag along," Kanda glared at the Ed in particular. Ed made a face at him.

"How will we get to the Headquarters?" asked Armstrong.

"By train, of course. The last one should be arriving in 40 minutes," said a large Finder with red hair.

"Come on!" the third Finder, who was tall with dark hair motioned for everyone to follow him, and the group started running through the streets of Munich.

They eventually arrived at the train station. Soon after they arrived, their train also came. Everybody trooped in and found seats. The train departed. Alphonse received quite a few stares, but things went smoothly. Edward kept on looking around him curiously.

"What is it, Edomaru?" Lavi, who sat across from Ed inquired after he did that for about 20 minutes. He had decided to stop calling Ed the word he hated so much.

"It's strange. It's almost like we didn't leave Amestris at all," commented Ed. "Everything looks and sounds the same as back home. The train, the buildings, even the people. It's like we're in another version of Central in another dimension."

"I know what you mean," agreed Winry, who sat beside Lavi. "They have no clue we're not from this world. We don't stand out at all."

"Except for Alu-chan," Lavi teased good-naturedly.

"At least this train ride is better than the time Major Armstrong put me in the luggage section," sighed Al.

"What? Really?" Lavi turned to the seat behind him. "Is that true, Alex-kun?"

"Yes, because putting him in the luggage department was more inconspicuous," replied Armstrong.

"That, and cheaper," added Roy, who sat beside Riza across from Armstrong. "The pay for that train ride came out of my pocket, and money doesn't grow on trees."

"As you can see, Roy's cheap," commented Ed.

"And lazy, too," Jean Havoc added from beside Armstrong.

"I don't think Mr. Mustang is cheap," argued Allen, who was sitting across the aisle from Ed. "He gave us money for food and a hotel."

"You don't know lazy until you've met my brother," across from Allen, Lenalee laughed. Elicia was napping beside her, and Lenalee patted her head.

"She's right about that," agreed Kanda, who sat beside a window on Elicia's other side.

"So what exactly do exorcists do?" Sheska asked from her seat beside Allen.

"Well, we mostly battle akuma," said Lavi.

"We also go to investigate strange occurrences when our Finders can't," added Lenalee.

"When the Finders are too incompetent," corrected Kanda, who earned some glares from the trio of Finders sitting behind him. "Sometimes, we go on idiotic missions Komui Li assigns to us."

"And we fight the Earl," concluded Allen.

"Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it," Lavi assured Sheska.

"Is Elicia going to have to fight?" asked Winry. "I mean, she's only a child."

"But she's compatible with Innocence. That's the only quality you need to become an exorcist. And the Black Church needs every exorcist it can get; young or old, eager or unwilling," said Lenalee. Her own induction to the church came back to her again, and her eyes darkened at the terrible memories. The rest of the train ride passed in silence.

When the arrived at their destination, everybody followed the Finders off. They had quite a bit of a walk before they finally reached Headquarters. Everybody had to enter from the front, but the useless Gate Guard let them in without any trouble. When they entered they building, Reever Wenhamm was waiting for them.

"Hi, I'm Squad Leader Reever Wenhamm," Reever smiled and shook hands with each of the Amestrians, who introduced themselves in turn. Reever took a careful look at them. "I thought there were only supposed to be four new exorcists?"

"There are," replied Lavi. "But some of the others wanted to come."

"Okay. You guys can leave," Reever told the Finders. They went off to their rooms. Reever turned to the rest. "Come with me to Komui's office. Allen, Lavi, Kanda and Lenalee, you come too."

The group obediently trailed after him. They walked through hallways and past many rooms, Reever giving them a small tour. They finally arrived in front of a large office. The door was open. Reever and the exorcists walked in without knocking, so everybody followed them. They all gasped at the state of the office. Paper and books were strewn everywhere. Roy's office at least _implied_ that he was hardworking, while this man's office screamed procrastinator. The Amestrians were unsure where to step. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves were filled with every type of texts imaginable. Sheska's eyes sparkled behind her glasses. Reever and the exorcists confidently walked right over the documents, so they did the same. They walked up to a table, which was just as messy as the floor. A few documents had been shoved aside to make space for a man whose upper body was sprawled onto the desk. It was Komui Li, and he was sleeping.

"Head Officer Komui," Reever addressed the man. He kept on snoring. Allen, Kanda, Lenalee and Lavi all rolled their eyes.

"Head Officer Komui?" Reever tapped the man. "Head Officer Komui!" Reever smacked him on the side of his head. When he made no signs of waking up, Reever sighed and turned to the group. "Everybody, stand back."

"Why?" asked Winry.

"Just do it," Lavi guided her away from the slumbering man. Reever leaned over Komui and whispered three magic words.

"Lenalee's. Getting. Married."

"_NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! LEEEEEEENAAAAAAALEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! DOOOOOOOOON'T LEEEEEAAAAAAAAAVE MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!_" Komui sat up straight and shrieked. His hand shot out as if reaching for her. But he failed to pull his sister from the evil clutches of her suitor. Unfortunately for Sheska, she had ignored Reever's warning, and was standing right in front of Komui. His fist connected with her left eye.

"_OWW!_" cried Sheska. Komui's outstretched fingers had sent her glasses flying, and his knuckles struck unprotected eye. She had been knocked off-balance, and she fell on her rear.

"Brother! What do you think you're doing?" scolded Lenalee, helping Sheska up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Komui fully woke up. He walked over and lifted Sheska's chin up. He looked at her swollen eye. Sheska blushed. "That's going to bruise. Reever, get her some ice, will you?" Reever started to go. "Oh, and get me some coffee." Reever sighed, and walked towards the door.

"Um… do you mind getting my glasses, too?" requested Sheska. Reever sighed harder as he walked over, picked them up, walked back and handed them to her. Luckily, a pile of paper had broken their fall, and her glasses were not broken. He was about to complete his other tasks, when Komui stopped him again.

"Does anyone else want anything to drink?" asked Komui.

"Komui, the new exorcists have arrived! Please deal with them!" said Reever before making a beeline out of the office.

"Well, I'm Komui. I'm the Head of the Science Department at the Dark Religious Order. I'm also Lenalee's big brother. Welcome to the Black Church Headquarters," Komui smiled at them. The Amestrians introduced themselves. Komui looked closer at them. "I thought only the four exorcists were coming?"

"We decided to tag along," explained Winry.

"Which of you have Innocence?" asked Komui. Armstrong, Riza, Sheska and Winry, who was carrying Elicia all stepped forward.

"Okay. Please follow me. I need to introduce you to Hevlaska," Komui took Elicia from Winry. He walked to the door, and the new exorcists followed him. "The rest of you, please wait here."

"Where are we going?" asked Sheska.

"To Hevlaska. All new exorcists have to see her," replied Komui. The five of them stepped onto an open-roofed elevator. They traveled down a few floors before they came to a stop. They were surrounded by black. Armstrong, Riza and Sheska struggled to se.

"I've brought the new exorcists to see Hevlaska," Komui called into the darkness.

"New exorcists. Holy soldiers to fight against the darkness," a voice said from somewhere above.

"They will be judged," said another voice.

"The new exorcists." A figure loomed over Komui. It was blue and translucent, covered with tough armor. Riza guessed that was Hevlaska. She was huge. Armstrong thought she sort of resembled a dinosaur. Sheska took one look, let out a muffled shriek, and turned to walk away. Komui caught her wrist.

"I probably should've told you that Hevlaska has a scary face," Komui explained sheepishly.

"Do not be alarmed by my appearance. I am not your enemy. In fact, I am also an exorcist," Hevlaska assured them in her gentle, dreamy voice. "Who will be first?" Armstrong and Sheska looked at her reluctantly.

"I'll go," Riza finally volunteered.

"Very well." Hevlaska reached out her long tendrils and enveloped Riza. She picked up the First Lieutenant, and lifted her close to her face. Riza stared at Hevlaska fearlessly. Hevlaska pressed her lips down on Riza's forehead. "10 percent… 27 percent… 55 percent… 63 percent… 75 percent…81 percent. Exorcist Riza Hawkeye, your syncronization is 81 percent. Who is next?" She set Riza down.

Komui turned around. "Sheska, do you want to go?"

"Um… okay?" Sheska took a deep breath, and walked in front of Hevlaska. Hevlaska lifted Sheska up, and pressed her lips to her forehead.

"4 percent… 15 percent… 47 percent… 67 percent… 72 percent. Exorcist Sheska, your syncronization is 72 percent." Hevlaska set Sheska down. Komui patted her on the back. She picked Armstrong up, and did the same. "22 percent… 35 percent… 65 percent… 75 percent. Exorcist Alex Louis Armstrong, your syncronization is 75 percent."

"I guess Elicia is last," said Komui. He gently set her down on the ground. Elicia looked at Hevlaska with wide eyes. Hevlaska lifted her up.

"28 percent… 54 percent… 79 percent… 88 percent… 94 percent." There was a slight catch in Hevlaska's voice. Komui gasped. "Exorcist Elicia Hughes, your maximum syncronization is 94 percent." She set Elicia back down.

"What does that mean?" questioned Sheska.

"Your maximum synchronization determines how well you can activate your Innocence, and how strong your weapon is," explained Hevlaska. "Elicia's weapon seems to be parasitic. Her percentage is extremely high."

"Parasitic means part of one's body can be converted into a weapon, right?" Riza recalled Lenalee explaining this. She held up her gun. The Innocence flashed. "My Innocence is on my gun. Armstrong's is his gauntlet, and Sheska's is her book. What kind is Elicia's?"

"That was what I was hoping you could tell me. Did anybody see her use it?" asked Komui. All three shook their heads. "Such strength, and at such a young age. Very impressive." He looked back at Hevlaska. "You know of the urgent missions we have lined up. The more exorcists, the better. Can these exorcists work right away?"

"Exorcists Hawkeye and Armstrong seem to have very good control over their weapons," said Hevlaska. "They may go on the mission. However, make sure their teammates look after them. Exorcist Sheska still needs to train before she can take on missions. You must find out more about Exorcist Hughes' Innocence."

"Thank you." Komui and Hevlaska bowed at each other. Sheska, Riza and Armstrong saluted her. Hevlaska bowed towards them and slithered away.

"What is the mission, Head Officer Li?" inquired Riza.

"Ah, yes, the mission. I still need to explain it to Lenalee and the others. Let's go back to the office. Then, I can tell everyone." The elevator transported them back up to Komui's floor. He took Elicia's hand, and they all walked towards the office. However, the five of them stopped at the door. There was a fight going on inside.

"Don't you dare call me short!" screeched Edward. His right arm had Kanda in a headlock, and his left hand was pulling his long ponytail.

"Don't you dare touch my hair!" yelled Kanda. He had Mugen lifted up to Ed's shoulder, threatening to lop his automail arm off. His other hand was strangling Ed.

"Don't you dare ruin the best automail I ever made!" screamed Winry, attempting to bludgeon Kanda with her infamous wrench.

"Edward! Please calm down!"

"Don't you guys think you're over-reacting?"

"You're being so immature, Yu-chan!"

"If you don't quit, I'll burn both of you!"

"Winry! You're going to hurt someone!" Meanwhile, Lavi, Allen, Roy and Jean were trying in vain to pry Ed and Kanda apart while Alphonse restrained Winry.

"Um… Kanda?" Lenalee tried to catch her fellow exorcist's attention. Kanda ignored her and kept on sawing automail. "Ed?" Lenalee tried to speak to Edward, who kept on pulling hair. "Don't you think you should stop?"

An anger vein on her forehead grew bigger and bigger. Finally, she had enough. Lenalee grabbed a wooden clipboard off her brother's desk. She hopped onto the nearest chair and took a deep breath.

"**_STOP FIGHTING OR I'LL HURT YOU!!!_**" yelled Lenalee.

The volume caused a few books to topple off Komui's desk, and everyone's hair to fly straight up. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing to look in her direction. Lenalee's usually gentle face was now a mask of fury. She brandished the clipboard like a shuriken, and whipped it at them. Kanda winced and ducked, recalling the effects of wood on skull when it was in Lenalee's hands. Ed also winced and ducked, her expression reminding him of Winry right before she pulverized him with a wrench. Both let go of each other. Winry quickly calmed down after she realized her masterpiece was no longer in danger. The clipboard soared above them all and bounced harmlessly off the bookshelf.

"Lenalee! Where did you learn that?" Komui walked into the room, grinning broadly at the knowledge that Lenalee now knew how to protect herself from rapists. "What happened, anyway?"

"Ed asked Kanda if his hair was too long to be battling with. Kanda made a comment about Ed's height. And, well, here we are," Lenalee shrugged. "How did it go?"

"Fine," replied Komui.

"So what's the mission, Head Officer?" Riza didn't want to waste any time.

"Okay, everybody, gather around," said Komui. Everybody trooped over to where he was standing. "Recently, Exorcist General Kevin Yeegar was fatally wounded. We found him hanging-"

"Are you sure we need to hear?" Winry quickly walked over to Elicia and covered her ears.

"What's the mission?" Lenalee nodded approvingly at Winry's efforts to keep the story PG.

"I'm getting there. Anyways, it turns out that whoever hurt General Yeegar was after the Heart of the Innocence. The murder attempt broke General Yeegar's nerves, and his last breath was spent singing about the Innocence. He died shortly after. Now, I believe it is necessary to take immediate action to protect the heart," explained Komui.

"What's the Heart of the Innocence?" asked Riza.

"It is sort of like the most important unit of Innocence. If it is destroyed, none of the other units will function. If it is destroyed, there will be nothing left to protect mankind," Komui's eyes trained on each exorcist seriously. "Because it is so important, we believe one of the other Exorcist Generals hold it. We don't know for sure who has it, but we're not taking chances. Each of you will be assigned to protect one of them."

"Head Officer!" Reever entered the room. Two more exorcists followed him. One of them was Bookman, and the other was a burly man with dark hair pulled up into a topknot. Reever and the burly exorcist both held black robes in their arms.

"Oh, did you bring me my coffee?" asked Komui. Reever sweatdropped.

"No. I brought some exorcist robes, and the remaining exorcists," said Reever. "Daisya Barry was supposed to join Tiedoll's team, but he said you told him he could leave? He left with Sokaro's team."

"That's right. We have more exorcists, so I decided Sokaro's team could use one more person," nodded Komui. He turned to Kanda. "Kanda, will you bring me the clipboard Lenalee almost sliced you in half with?" Kanda muttered something very rude, but went and retrieved it. When Komui got it, he consulted the list. "Ah, yes. Yu Kanda and Noise Marie, you will be part of the group that protects General Tiedoll. He will be fairly easy to track, so I'll assign Riza and Alex to your team. Noise, meet your teammates Riza Hawkeye and Alex Louis Armstrong." Riza and Armstrong shook hands with the burly man.

"Wait a second! Why are the newbies are joining the mission?" complained Kanda. "First Beansprout, now Hawkeye and Major Clean. Why do I always have to take care of the rookies?"

"I was a sniper during the Ishbalan War. I am very capable with a gun, and quite capable of using my weapon. I don't _need_ to be 'taken care of'," Riza was appalled by the fact the Kanda thought he had to look out for her.

"The way of the fist has been passed down many generations of Armstrongs! I am capable with my weapon as well!" announced Armstrong. To show that he wasn't a weakling that needed taking care of, he ripped off his shirt and flexed, displaying all his muscles. Everyone sweatdropped.

"That's right, your exorcist robes!" Komui took one from Reever's armful. He held it out, and looked at it. He looked at Sheska, and smiled. "Here, this one's for you." Sheska took it. Lenalee helped her put it on. Komui gave her a thumbs up. "Perfect fit!" Riza was also given a robe, which she exchanged her army jacket for. After some trouble, Armstrong also found one. Komui and Reever decided that Elicia's robe could wait.

"I have a question," said Jean. He glanced at Lenalee. "Since, um, Riza and Sheska are female exorcists, do they get the same… skirt?" a trickle of blood dripped down his nose.

"It's not mandatory. They can choose to wear pants," replied Reever.

"And I will," agreed Riza, glaring at Jean. Roy smacked him on the head.

"Anyways, on with the list. There are only 4 Generals left, which means that Allen, Lenalee, Lavi and Bookman will be looking for… Exorcist General Cross Marian," Komui looked up at everyone. "Any questions?"

"How long will the mission be?" asked Roy.

"I don't know. It depends on how long it takes to track them, and so on," replied Komui.

"I want to go," said Roy.

"What? You can't."

"I want to go. I want to go with Riza," Roy told him firmly. "She has been supporting me for a long time. It's my turn to support her."

"But… it'll be dangerous…" protested Reever.

"I don't care," Roy stated stubbornly.

Komui sighed. "Since you seem quite strong and capable, I'll give you a position as a Finder. Roy, you will go with Froi's group. Now all of you go with Reever to get the rest of your uniforms. You leave first thing tomorrow." Everyone said their good-nights, and left. Ed and Al were assigned a room next to Allen's. They walked the whole way in silence. Edward stopped Allen right before he turned into his room.

"Allen, remember what you told us earlier?" asked Ed. "About how you experienced what we did? What did you mean? And how did you know?"

"Well, you told us how a homunculus was made. You also told me that Ed lost his limbs in an alchemy accident, and that he had prosthetic limbs called automail. Roy later told us your mother was deceased," said Allen. "When I saw you with the homunculus Sloth, and I sort of pieced everything together." Allen looked at them. "You tried to bring your mother back, and Ed's arm and leg was taking away, right?"

"Yeah. But that's not all that was lost," said Ed.

"You must wonder why I always have to wear this suit of armour, right? Well, it's because I have to." Alphonse lifted his head off. Allen gasped. Al and Edward told him the whole story.

"We're trying to get back what we lost. What we lost by making terrible mistakes. And we want to atone for our sins. We want to fix our mistakes," Ed looked down at his feet. "Allen, you said our situations aren't so different. Did you try to bring someone back?"

"Yeah, a long time ago. His name was Mana. He was my father," Allen told them his story.

"We're really similar, Allen," Ed smiled. "We were both driven to do forbidden deeds by our grief. We both failed what we envisioned. We both miraculously survived. And we're both making up for it."

"The same story, in different worlds," Allen smiled as well. "We've both gained something powerful from our mistakes. And we supposedly even look alike!"

"You know, I don't really want to stay here, at HQ. We won't be of much use around Headquarters. And if we venture out into the world, we may even find what we're looking for," mused Ed.

"Maybe we should go with you," suggested Al. "I've never met someone whose circumstances are so similar to ours. Maybe we should stick together."

"Yeah!" Ed grew excited. "I'm sure we'll find the Philosopher's Stone in the process!"

"Let's do it!" Al shared his brother's excitement.

"But guys… it'll be really dangerous. You don't know Cross Marian. We'll probably be searching for months before we even find our first clue," Allen wasn't so sure.

"Who cares! It'll go faster with more people!" Ed and Al each took Allen by an arm and dragged him out of his room. "Let's go tell Komui that we're going, too!"

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"I'm not wearing this," Ed told Komui flatly as he held a white Finder uniform in front of him.

"Come on, Ed. Don't be a baby," said Roy, adjusting his backpack. He was all zipped up in his own uniform.

"You have to," said Reever.

"Edward! Just put it on so we can leave!" snapped Lavi. "It's not that bad!"

"Easy for you to say. You get a nice, warm jacket while I get… _this._" Edward made a face at the suit.

"Tsk. Finders should know their place," Kanda glared at him.

"What are you implying?" Ed growled.

"Ed, it's not that bad," Komui told him. "All the other Finders wear it. Even Roy is wearing it."

"How come Alphonse doesn't have to?" demanded Ed.

"I think you can answer that question yourself," Kanda sneered at Al's giant body.

"Okay, we're ready." Riza and Armstrong entered the hall, fully clad in exorcist garb.

"I'll show you where you'll leave," offered Reever.

"Thank you for this wonderful opportunity! I am so happy to be able to help!" Armstrong enveloped Komui in a bone-crushing hug.

"Take care," Sheska told them.

"You too. Don't get into too much trouble," Riza looked at Ed in particular.

"Whatever. Bye," Ed rolled his eyes.

"Good-bye!" Everybody else said their good-byes. Riza, Roy, Noise, Armstrong and Kanda followed Reever to their exit.

"Look, brother! Everybody else left! Please just put it on!" pleaded Alphonse.

"You can even wear your old jacket over it," suggested Komui. Edward sighed. He nodded reluctantly.

"Great! Lavi and Allen, you guys help him," commanded Komui.

"I don't _need_ any help," grumbled Edward. They trooped off towards one of the bathrooms. When they got back, Ed was grimacing at his outfit. He had buttoned his red jacket up quite tightly. His legs were clad in poofy white pants and boots. Lavi retrieved the phone, and strapped it on Ed's back while Komui strapped another phone on Alphonse's.

"You look good," Lenalee smiled encouragingly.

"Liar," muttered Ed.

"Everyone ready?" asked Komui. The exorcists and Finders nodded in unison and lined up in front of him. "You all know that you will be looking for Cross Marian. This mission will be the hardest of all. Cross is very evasive, and dislikes Headquarters. The only contact we've had from him over the last few years is the letter he sent to introduce Allen. All of the other Generals send their expense bills to the Headquarters, which helps us pinpoint their locations. However, Cross does not use the Order's money."

"That's right… he borrows it…" Allen sweatdropped, remembering how he often had to repay the people Cross owed money to.

"Timcanpy will be useful in tracking Cross down," Komui indicated to them golem perched on Allen's head. He looked at Ed and Al. "According to Allen, Cross was last seen in India. That's all the way across the world, in another continent. This will be a dangerous mission. I realize that you have talent, but let the exorcists handle the akuma, okay? Exorcists, I expect you to look out for the Finders."

"Okay," everybody nodded.

"One more thing. I told Riza, Alex and Roy earlier. The Commanders at the Black Order know about where you come from. But we don't want the information to leak out of the Black Order. So keep quiet about Amestris and alchemy. I don't even recommend telling the other Finders and exorcists about this. If anyone asks, you're all from Munich, and we discovered you we Allen and the others went to investigate the portal," said Komui.

"Understood," everybody agreed. Reever returned.

"They're gone. Are you ready?" he asked the others. Everybody nodded. "Say your good-byes."

"Edward. Don't you _dare_ ruin the best automail I ever made!" Winry took Ed's arm and shook it menacingly. She turned to Lavi and smiled sweetly at him. "Take care, Lavi-kun!"

"Please be careful," added Sheska.

"Don't do anything stupid," agreed Jean.

"Good luck," said Komui.

"Thanks!" Allen smiled. "Bye!"

"See you soon, I hope!" Lenalee grinned.

"Bye, Lena-chan!" Elicia piped up. "Bye everyone!"

"Bye!" Ed, Lavi, Alphonse, Allen and Lenalee waved. Bookman walked down the hall, and the teenagers followed him. Komui turned back when they went out of sight.

"The four of you can go get some breakfast," said Komui. "I have some work to do. Come see me when you're done. Reever, please show them to the cafeteria."

Reever, Jean, Sheska, Winry and Elicia all traveled down the elevator and to the cafeteria. Reever told them he also had to work, and left them at the door. The four of them walked into the cafeteria. There was no line, so they walked directly to the booth.

"My! Haven't seen you here before! You must be new!" a large, muscular Indian man with dreads stood behind the booth. He smiled at them. "Aren't you a good-looking bunch?" he caught sight of Elicia, and squealed. "Oh my goodness! What a sweetie pie! What's your name, darling?"

"'Licia Hughes," replied Elicia, giving him a big grin that made him squeal louder.

"Well, my name is Jeryy. What's your name, sir?" Jeryy turned his million-watt-smile towards Jean.

"Uh… Jean Havoc…" Jean felt a little creeped out.

"Well, what would you like today, Jean?" asked Jeryy. "I'll make you anything you want."

The group received their food. They walked towards a table, noticing how Jeryy had conveniently ignored Winry and Sheska. They sat down in an almost-empty one. Jean and Sheska sat across from Winry and Elicia. Winry had taken a seat beside a thin, mournful-looking woman with brown hair. Her eyes seemed to be dodging everybody else, and she looked down at her half-empty plate when they sat down

"So what do you think so far?" asked Jean. He pulled out a cigarette, and stuck it into his mouth. He lit it, and inhaled deeply.

"Edward and the others left so fast," observed Winry.

"I know. I feel sort of bad that I have to stay here while they fight. It kind of makes me feel… useless," admitted Sheska. The brown-haired woman's ears perked up at the word she was very familiar with.

"Don't worry, Sheska. Just a little bit of training, and you'll be fine," Winry assured her. "So, what do you think of the people?"

"Jeryy scares me!" announced Jean.

"I think… Komui's kind of cute," Sheska blushed.

"He reminds me of Mr. Hughes," said Winry. "Reever reminds me of you, Jean."

"That Bookman guy is sort of creepy. I wonder if that's his real name?" wondered Jean.

"Noise Marie is like a non-hyper version of Armstrong!" laughed Winry.

"I really hope I can join them soon," said Sheska. "I really want to keep this job. I hope I don't get fired like my other jobs."

"Well, the job with Mr. Hughes wasn't your fault," Winry comforted her.

"Yeah, but the job before? I really loved that one, but I felt so bad that I lost it for such a stupid reason," sighed Sheska. "I've actually lost a lot of jobs for the same reason." The brown-haired woman looked up. Losing jobs was her area of expertise.

"Oh, is my smoke bothering you?" asked Jean. Now that he'd gotten a clear look at her face, he noticed that she wasn't as old as he thought. She was perhaps in her mid-twenties, as old as he was. She was also rather pretty, with dark, haunting eyes.

"Oh… no. It's not. I'm sorry," the woman ducked down again.

"My name's Winry Rockbell," Winry smiled and offered her hand. "My friends and I just got here yesterday. How long have you been here?"

"I'm Miranda Lotto," said the woman, weakly shaking Winry's hand. "I'm new as well."

"Jean Havoc," Jean shook her hand next. "You know, you can tell me if my smoking is bothering you."

"Really, it's fine. I'm sorry."

"Sheska. I'm an exorcist. But as I'm sure you've heard, I'm still too weak to go on missions," Sheska shook hands with Miranda and grinned sheepishly.

"I also possess Innocence. I am still training as well," admitted Sheska.

"This is Elicia," Winry introduced her. "She's an exorcist, too, but she's only five."

"Only five!" Miranda's eyes grew wider. She quickly looked down, apologetic for her outburst. "I'm sorry. I know age has nothing to do with Innocence."

"So where are you from?" inquired Winry.

"Germany," replied Miranda. "A pair of young exorcists named Allen Walker and Lenalee Li discovered me."

"I know Allen and Lenalee," said Jean. "They just left for a mission this morning."

"What's your weapon?" asked Sheska.

"It involves time."

"Sheska's weapon's a book. We don't know Elicia's yet," said Winry. "Two of our other friends who are new exorcists have a gun Innocence and a gauntlet one. They're on missions right now."

"Three of our friends became Finders. Two of them left with Allen's group, and one left with Kanda's," added Jean.

"So you're also an exorcist that could take part in the mission?" asked Sheska, feeling slightly better about her position.

"Yes. I am too weak and useless," sighed Miranda. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't say that!" urged Winry. "Where's your self-esteem?"

"But it's true. I've been fired a hundred times because of my uselessness," Miranda sighed harder. She finished the last of her breakfast. "Please excuse me. I must go. I promised Head Officer Li that I would see him after breakfast. I'm sorry."

"Oh, us too," said Winry.

"Do you think you could wait for us?" asked Sheska. "We don't really know our way around."

Miranda agreed. They left the cafeteria together after everyone was done eating. Winry held Elicia's hand as they traveled up the floors. They reached Komui's office, and walked in. Komui was sprawled across his desk, snoring.

"Head Officer Komui?" Winry tried to get his attention. Komui kept on snoring.

"Head Officer!" Jean walked up and tapped him on the shoulder. No results.

"Head Officer Komui, please wake up!" Winry also walked up to him and talked into his ear. Zip. Reever tugged on his hair. Zero. Winry tried pulling his eyelids open. Nada. Everyone looked around. Reever was nowhere in sight.

"You know… there's one other way to wake him up," said Jean.

"No way!" protested Sheska, remembering what had happened last time. Her eye was still a little sore.

"It's the only way. This time, just stand a little further away?" suggested Winry.

"This is ridiculous! Head Officer Komui!" Sheska marched up to him. She laid a hand on his shoulder, and shook him violently. And, miraculously… Komui woke up!

"Oh, hi!" Komui sat up and straightened his glasses. He surveyed the room. "Miranda, you're here as well. Sheska, this is Miranda, a fellow exorcist."

"We've met," said Sheska, smiling at Miranda.

"Since you're both currently training, I thought maybe you two can train together," suggested Komui. "We're rather short on exorcists, so the sooner you can go on missions, the better."

"We understand," Sheska and Miranda chorused.

"Good. I made a training schedule for you… somewhere…" Komui overturned a few pieces of paper he had been sleeping on top of. None of them was the schedule. He grinned sheepishly and held up a finger. "One second." Komui began pawing through the piles of paper crowding his desk. Everybody sweatdropped.

"Incoming, supervisor!" Reever entered the room with his arms full of papers.

"Reever, have you seen the schedule I made for Miranda and Sheska?" Komui looked up from his digging. There was an ink smudge on the tip of his nose.

"No, sorry."

"That's okay," Komui straightened up. "Why don't you take them down to the training room Miranda was using? Might as well as get started without the schedule. I want them to have some battling experience as soon as possible."

No sooner were the words out of Komui's mouth, when the glass in the windows shattered. Everybody ducked. When they looked up, they saw four gigantic metal spheres enter violently through the walls. Each had a mask of a sorrowful face embedded into its body. They had cannons for arms, and darkness for fuel. They were creatures neither Winry nor Jean ever wanted to see again.

"How did they break through?" demanded Reever.

"It doesn't matter!" replied Komui. He turned to Jean and Winry. "They're still Level Ones, but they're dangerous! Run for cover!" Jean picked Elicia up, and he and Winry stood at attention, ready to dodge bullets.

"Head Officer Komui? Should we fight them?" asked Sheska uncertainly. Miranda shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah. You're the only exorcists here," Komui rested his hand on Sheska's shoulder. "We're counting on you."

Sheska and Miranda turned and walked towards the akuma. They faced the akuma with their weapons in hand.


	8. Chapter 8: Battle

"Are you sure they can handle this?" Winry inquired Komui. They were hiding behind Komui's desk. The akuma had charged directly towards the exorcists. While Miranda couldn't directly attack, she was doing her best to hold back any injuries Sheska suffered. Sheska held her Innocence, which had taken the shape of a shield in front of her while she half chased and half ran away from the akuma.

"Supervisor, this is dangerous! There's a reason Miranda and Sheska are not on missions yet! They're can't handle akuma!" Reever reminded him.

"Maybe I should keep them around, in case akuma come again. They're definitely better than that useless Gate Keeper," noted Komui.

"Supervisor! Are you listening?" Reever tapped Komui in panic.

"Yes. They'll be fine. You watch," Komui assured Winry, Reever and Jean. Even as he spoke, one akuma got too close to Sheska. It tried to attack her, but Sheska's shield shifted into a shell-shape that covered her. Sheska then changed her shield back into a book. It ate the akuma.

"Very impressive!" Komui cheered. Sheska went for another akuma, with her shield by her side. Her movements were sure, but everyone could tell she was starting to get tired. Sheska blocked some bullets from the akuma. She attempted to change her shield back into a book, but it failed her. Sheska tripped and fell in the process. The akuma continued firing at her, but her shield blocked the attacks.

"That's right. 72 percent. The lower it is, the harder to activate Innocence. And Sheska's just starting, so it's even harder for her," noted Komui.

Just then, the two other akuma seemed to notice Komui & crew. They floated towards them, aiming their cannons at the desk.

"Duck!" commanded Komui.

Komui, Reever and Jean shielded their faces with their arms, while Winry made a move to protect Elicia. But the girl was a step ahead of her. Elicia made a move as if to jump onto the table. She was quite a bit shorter than Komui's desk, but she seemed to levitate, as if invisible strings pulled her. Elicia floated even past the desk. She stood suspended in mid-air, with her arms outstretched towards the akuma. A bright red aura surrounded her. The aura glowed the brightest at her collar, where the heart-shaped Innocence was embedded. Her red aura began to bleed into the air.

The akuma began to fire, but when their bullets met with the red light, they miraculously dissolved. No one was harmed. Elicia then pointed her palms at the two akuma. The light from her collar traveled along her arms, to her palms. There, they shaped into orbs of pure energy. The orbs shot through the air, and towards the akuma. Elicia's light hit their mark. The orbs engulfed the akuma, surrounding them with red auras. The akuma seemed to be immobilized. Then, to everyone's surprise, the red aura started getting smaller and smaller… it was dissolving the akuma. Soon, the aura formed back into small spheres. It glinted a blinding magenta for a few seconds, then disappeared. Komui and Reever waited with baited breath, but the akuma seemed to be gone.

At that moment, Sheska was finally able to manipulate her Innocence back into the book, killing the akuma she was fighting. Elicia stayed suspended in air for a few more seconds. However, her eyes closed, and she dropped down onto the desk. Winry rushed over to her.

"She's still alive, but she's unconscious," said Winry, picking up Elicia.

"Of course. She's so young, yet she had so much power. It's amazing," said Komui. He walked over to Sheska, and helped her up. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. For a moment, when my Innocence didn't work, I thought I was going to… die…" Sheska choked back tears. She had quite a few bruises, and was bleeding, but was otherwise fine.

"That's reality for an exorcist," Komui embraced her, and patted her on the back. "Good job. You did well."

"This isn't good at all!" Reever exclaimed, looking around the room. The shelves were destroyed, and most of the books and files were ripped apart. He picked up the remains of one of the files. "This contains the exorcists' information! Some of these are really important!"

"I could restore everything," offered Miranda timidly. "But it won't be permanent."

"You can do that?" Sheska was impressed.

"Yes. My Innocence can sort of turn back time by taking away injuries or damage. However, when I let go, everything returns. I can't bring back the dead," sighed Miranda.

"This is perfect!" exclaimed Winry. "Sheska can read everything, and copy it down!"

"I can't activate it for that long. I'm sorry," apologized Miranda.

"The length that you held it for during the battle would be fine. Believe it or not, I have a photographic memory. I can remember everything I've ever read word-per word," said Sheska.

"What?!" gasped Miranda, Komui and Reever.

"She really does," agreed Winry.

"Her old employer once made her copy down over a hundred files, straight from memory," added Jean.

"Are you serious?" demanded Reever.

"There are some really amazing people in this world!" exclaimed Miranda, feeling more useless by the moment.

"There isn't too much we need reproduced. We only really need the information on the exorcists…" Komui said thoughtfully. "Okay! Then let's do this!" He excitedly rolled up his sleeves in excitement. "Miranda, activate your Innocence!"

Miranda nodded, and held her Innocence to her heart. Time seemed to shift back, as the shelves pieced themselves back together, and the torn pages flew back into the books. Sheska's wounds disappeared. Even the shattered glass few back in place. Miranda bit her lip, concentrating very hard.

"Here, Sheska. Start with this," Komui handed Sheska a fat black folder. She staggered a little under the weight. Komui led her to his seat behind his desk. "I'll get the rest for you while you finish that."

--------------

"Please tell me we're done!" groaned Sheska, her hand throbbing.

She, Miranda, Komui and Reever had pulled all-nighters. Sheska had crammed down every book she could read while Miranda activated her Innocence. When Miranda couldn't hold it anymore, Sheska wrote while she rested. Komui had been amazed by her ability, and before long, she had found herself copying every piece of literature that had been destroyed by the akuma. And there were a lot. Stacks. Piles. Hills. Mountains. Sheska had gotten a little taste of what life was like for Komui's subordinates.

"Supervisor Komui?" Sheska glanced over at the man. He was sitting across from her, head leaning back and mouth wide open. Snoring. Sheska looked towards Miranda's direction, and saw that she had fallen asleep on the floor, with her back against the desk. Reever was nowhere in sight. She vaguely remembered Reever saying something about coffee a few minutes ago. Sheska woke Miranda up.

"Are you done?" asked Miranda.

"I hope so. What should I do about him?" Sheska pointed to Komui.

"Wake him up, I guess," said Miranda.

Sheska timidly approached Komui. She tapped him on the shoulder. "Supervisor?"

To her surprise, Komui actually woke up. He sat up straight, and yawned. Komui rubbed his eyes and looked at Sheska. He smiled pleasantly. "Are you done?"

"Yes…" Sheska replied cautiously. She knew that smile. It was Maes Hughes' 'Great! I've got more work for you!' smile.

Sure enough, Komui's eyes wandered around the room. After spotting small mountains of paper piled in front of him, they grew as round as saucers. "You did all that?!"

"That's just what you gave me," Sheska replied meekly.

"Sheska! You're amazing!" declared Komui.

"Oh… thanks…" Sheska blushed.

"And I have to thank you, too, Miranda. The two of you really saved my skin. Who knows what the bosses would do if they found out I lost the exorcists' information…" Komui shuddered. He looked towards the doorway, where Reever and his other subordinates were standing holding various repairing tools. "We're going to repair this place. Why don't you get some rest?"

"Okay," Sheska and Miranda nodded.

"Oh, and Sheska?" Komui caught her hand before she left. "I'm giving you a promotion."

"What, supervisor?" Sheska blushed noticing how cool and refreshing his hand felt against her own aching fingers.

"I'm making you my secretary!" Komui announced with a glint in his eye. His subordinates winced.

"Okay," shrugged Sheska. As she and Miranda passed, she received a pat on the back from Reever, and sympathetic looks from the other subordinates.

"Coffee. Coffee always helps," one subordinate whispered helpfully.

"Alcohol doesn't hurt either," added another subordinate.

"Don't trust anything Komui invents," advised a third subordinate.

She received more advice, such as "The magic words are 'Lenalee's getting married'", "Always look at the mail _before_ it ends up on supervisor's desk" and "Anything Komui says will make work easier gives as ten times more trouble".

"What are you telling my new secretary?" called Komui.

"Nothing!" chorused the subordinates.

"Get plenty of sleep while you can," the last subordinate patted her on the back sympathetically, leaving Sheska to wonder what she'd gotten herself into.

----------------

Meanwhile, miles away…

"That's the last of them!" Armstrong dusted off his hands. Noise Marie dusted off his robes silently.

"Akuma attacks are getting more and more frequent," noted Riza, putting her gun back into its holster.

"Put your robe back on!" Kanda snapped, picking up a crumpled pile of black cloth that he had almost stepped on. He tossed it at Armstrong. "It's not just any piece of clothing that can be ripped and repaired! Exorcists wear it!" And while he was still in his bad mood, he turned towards Roy. "You! I know you're capable of destroying akuma! Why don't you actually help us instead of standing there watching?"

"If they're destroyed by anything other than Innocence, they're gone forever. No chance of being redeemed. That's what Allen said," replied Roy. "Allen told me akuma are also humans. I believe him. And I don't want to kill another human ever again."

"So Beansprout makes my life harder even so far away," Kanda glowered at something in the distance. He turned back towards Roy, and his lip curled up grimly. "We'll see if you still think that when we meet the Level 2s and 3s."

--------------

Now, to check on the process of Team Allen…

"It… it left…" Allen stared at the empty tracks tearfully.

"Damn!" Edward was livid. "If you two hadn't insisted on rescuing those damn cats from that damn tree, we wouldn't be in this damn situation!" Only he didn't use the word 'damn'.

"We're sorry…" apologized Allen and Alphonse. Meowing sounds came from the inside of his armor. He was housing the four said damn cats that they rescued from that damn tree.

"Damn! What are we going to do now?" demanded Ed. Suddenly, he and Allen each felt a hand on their shoulder. They turned around, to see a mustached man dressed in a black coat.

"Whaddaya want?" Edward was still pissed.

"Can we help you?" Allen asked politely.

"Are you from the Black Order?" the man had a thick, Romanian accent.

"Yes," replied Allen.

"Then, maybe you can," the man turned the boys towards the direction of the village. "You see… our village has a slight problem."

---------------

Meanwhile, on the train…

"Those youngsters are mighty late," noted Bookman.

"Do you think they found other seats?" suggested Lenalee. "Maybe they're waiting for us."

"I'll go check. You two wait here, in case they come." volunteered Lavi. He returned half an hour later.

"Well?"

"Checked all the compartments. They're not here, although I _did_ burst into one young couple-"

"What now?" Bookman cut Lavi off before he could expand on that story.

"Well… I don't remember them actually getting on the train," said Lenalee. "I think Allen and Alphonse were trying to rescue a cat or something… I told them to hurry up, and I boarded the train. That's the last I saw of them."

"I bet they're still at the train station!" declared Lavi. "I'll go check!" He opened the window. Making his Innocence grow, he hopped onto it. He pushed off and flew away.


End file.
